Dubai: Virat Kohli’s brilliant run in the just-concluded World Cup has helped him jump one place, to third, in the latest ICC ODI Players’ Rankings for batters, which is being led by his junior teammate Shubman Gill.
Kohli (791 rating points) scored a tournament-best 765 runs during the World Cup, which propelled him to the top-3, just 35 rating points behind Gill.
Gill (826 rating points) is holding on to a narrow lead at the top of the rankings ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (824).
Not just Kohli, India skipper Rohit Sharma also rose one spot to fourth position with 769 rating points.
Kohli scored three centuries during the World Cup to break the record of former teammate Sachin Tendulkar for most ODI tons, while Rohit smashed 597 runs as the Indian duo finished the tournament as the two leading run scorers.
Gill managed 354 runs during the event while Babar aggregated 320 runs as Pakistan failed to reach the knockout stage of the tournament.
Kohli famously held the No.1 ranking for a total of 1258 consecutive days during a reign of almost four years between 2017 and 2021, with Babar spending the majority of the time in the premier position in recent years until Gill claimed the top billing during the World Cup.
The rise of Kohli and Rohit means South African opener Quinton de Kock drops two spots to fifth on the ODI batter rankings, with New Zealand right-hander Daryl Mitchell rising five spots to sixth on the back of his 552 runs in the World Cup.
The biggest eye-catcher on the updated ODI batter rankings is Travis Head, with the Australia opener jumping a massive 28 places to 15th after his brilliant century and player-of-the-match performance in the World Cup final.
In the bowlers’ chart, the Indian pace duo of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah remained at third and fourth spots respectively riding on impressive showing in the 50-over showpiece.
Another Indian, Kuldeep Yadav dropped one spot to occupy the sixth position jointly with Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.
South African spinner Keshav Maharaj remains on top on the updated ODI bowler rankings, with a host of Australian players making some good ground after their successful World Cup campaign.
Experienced seamer Josh Hazlewood rose four places to second overall, fellow quick Mitchell Starc jumped eight spots to 12th, while skipper Pat Cummins leaped seven rungs to 27th.
Mohammed Shami, who sparkled with the ball for India in the World Cup, occupies the 10th spot.
The all-rounders’ ranking didn’t witness significant changes with Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan enjoying a healthy lead at the top ahead of Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza, Rashid and Australian Glenn Maxwell.
New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, however, dropped two spots to seventh while Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz rose two places to ninth.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja is at the 10th spot.
PTI