ICC ODI Rankings: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Retain Their Spots At 2nd And 3rd, Babar Azam Leads At 1st

Kohli has 836 rating points to his kitty, while Rohit has 801. Pakistan captain Babar Azam leads the ODI batting rankings with 873 points.

Dubai: Former India captain Virat Kohli retained his second spot in the ICC men’s ODI batting rankings courtesy of his decent performance in the recently-concluded South Africa series. Kohli, scored 116 runs in the three-match ODI rubber against the Proteas, including two half-centuries. It is noteworthy that this was Kohli’s first series after the latter stepped down from the Indian team Test captaincy.

Another India senior player Rohit Sharma, who has been named Kohli’s successor in the India ODI team, also maintained his third place despite not playing in the South Africa series as he was recovering from an injury. Kohli has 836 rating points to his kitty, while Rohit has 801. Pakistan captain Babar Azam leads the ODI batting rankings with 873 points.

South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen broke into the top 10 after a brilliant outing in the series against India. He went up 10 places to be at no 10 spot with 750 rating points, while teammate Quinton de Kock, who hit a century in the series against India, also went up four places to occupy the fifth position.

De Kock and van der Dussen topped the ODI run charts with 229 and 218 runs respectively, with both players making hundreds in the series. De Kock averaged 76.33 while van der Dussen scored his runs at a staggering 218, and those performances have been reflected on the recent ICC ODI rankings.

Captain Temba Bavuma, who was the third centurion in the series against India, also climbed 21 places to be placed at 59th spot. Bavuma notched up 153 runs in three matches at an average of 51. In the bowling rankings, Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj made big leaps. Ngidi went up four places to occupy no 20 spot, picking up five wickets at 31.40.

India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had an ordinary ODI series, meanwhile dropped four places to lie at no 22. Maharaj, who dismissed Kohli twice in the ODI series, and impressed with his economy rate, went up 18 places to occupy the no 33 spot. There wasn’t too much movement in the top 10 with Kiwi Trent Boult and Australian Josh Hazlewood continuing to occupy the top two positions.

Inputs from PTI