Virat Kohli storms back to No.1 in ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings after more than four years

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s brilliant form has propelled him back to the top of the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings for the first time since July 2021, replacing team-mate Rohit Sharma following a match-winning 93 off 91 balls against New Zealand in Vadodara on Sunday.

Kohli has claimed the top spot for the 11th time in his illustrious career, riding a run of impressive scores that includes 135, 102 and 65 not out in a home series against South Africa in November-December, as well as a fluent 74 not out against Australia in Sydney in October.

The former India captain first reached the summit of the ODI batting rankings in October 2013 and has now spent a total of 825 days at No.1, which is the most by an India batter. He sits 10th in the all-time list, topped by the West Indies great Vivian Richards, who held the top position for an astounding 2,306 days.

New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell has also overtaken Sharma after scoring 84 and the competition for the top spot could intensify in the coming days with just 10 points covering the top three batters.

In other notable changes in the ODI rankings, K.L Rahul (up one place to 11th) and Devon Conway (up three places to 29th) have also advanced among batters while fast bowlers Mohammad Siraj (up five places to 15th) and Kyle Jamieson (up 27 places to 69th) have progressed among bowlers.

In the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, Travis Head and Steve Smith have advanced a slot each to third and fourth positions after their first innings centuries in the final Ashes Test as Australia won by five wickets in Sydney to complete a 4-1 victory in the ICC World Test Championship series.

England’s Joe Root finally got a Test century in Australia and finished as England’s top run-scorer in the series to consolidate his position at the top of the rankings while Harry Brook continues to hold on to the second position. Jacob Bethell’s knock of 154 has lifted him 25 places to 52nd position.

In the Test bowling rankings, Player of the Series Mitchell Starc’s 31 wickets have helped him reach third position from ninth at the start of the series and his fine efforts with the bat have also helped him move into the top five Test all-rounders.

Scott Boland’s 20 wickets have helped him hold onto the seventh position that he occupied at the start of the series while Michael Naser is the top 50 for the first time. England seamer Josh Tongue’s six wickets in the match have lifted him nine places to a career-best 21st position.

In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has moved up three places to second after finishing with five wickets in the three-match home series against Pakistan that finished 1-1.

Pakistan batters Sahibzada Farhan (up one place to fifth) and Salman Agha (up 13 places to 41st) have also moved up the list after finishing with aggregates of 61 and 60 runs in the series while left-arm seamer Salman Mirza has moved up 16 places to 19th after taking three wickets in all.