Kohli back as No. 1 batsman in ODI rankings

Sport Desk: On the back of his 32nd ton and an overall tally of 263 runs in the three-match series against New Zealand, Virat Kohli replaced AB de Villiers as the No. 1 batsman in ICC's ODI rankings.

The latest update, at the conclusion of the India-New Zealand, South Africa-Bangladesh and Pakistan-Sri Lanka bilateral series, saw the Indian skipper register his highest rating points of 889, which is also the highest ever for an Indian batsman. Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 had garnered 887 points and Kohli himself had done it earlier.

India won the series 2-1 against New Zealand on Sunday (October 29) and a spell of 3 for 47 in the series decider saw Jasprit Bumrah move to No. 3 in the bowlers' tally, which is led by Pakistan's Hasan Ali.

Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne also moved upwards in the rankings to occupy the 14th and 42nd spot, jumping up 11 and two slots respectively. Imad Wasim, the slow left-armer from Pakistan, grabbed 27th rank, climbing up 14 spots.

In the batsmen's rankings Rohit Sharma scaled his career high rating of 799, courtesy his scintillating 147 in Kanpur, but still remained seventh on the list. Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, despite having a quiet series, moved up one place to 11th.

Like Rohit, Pakistan's No. 3 batsman Babar Azam (fourth) and South Africa's wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton De Kock (fifth) notched up career-best rating points as well but there were no movements for the duo either.

The other who moved up in the charts were Faf Du Plessis to eighth and Tom Latham to a career-best 23rd after his Mumbai ton and a fighting fifty in Kanpur. Sarfraz Ahmed and Lahiru Thirimanne, meanwhile, now occupy 37th and 47th spots respectively.

In the team rankings, India's series win was not enough for them to topple the South Africans, who maintained the pole position and stayed clear of India by two points.

In the Women's rankings, Australia mustered four ranking points thanks to their 2-1 series win over England in the ODI leg of the ongoing Ashes, and that propelled them to the top spot in the team rankings.

Indian captain Mithali Raj claimed the No. 1 from Meg Lanning, who was ruled out of action for a minimum of six months following a shoulder surgery after the 2017 ICC Women's World Cup. England skipper Heather Knight and wicketkeeper-bat Sarah Taylor moved two places each to be 12th and 10th in the rankings.

The bowler's chart saw Megan Schutt occupy career-best position No. 4 after she picked up 10 wickets in the three match ODI series, the points from which count towards the first round of the ICC Women's ODI Championsip 2017-20. England's Jenny Gunn jumped to 19th on the back of her seven wickets in the tourney and Anya Shrubsole pipped one to jump to sixth rank.

Source: Cricbuzz

risingbd/Dhaka/October 30, 2017/A K Azad