Kohli reclaims top ODI spot; Bumrah rises to 3rd among bowlers
Dubai, Oct 30 (IANS) After guiding India to an unprecedented seventh straight series win, India skipper Virat Kohli reclaimed the No.1 spot among in the latest ICC rankings for ODI batsmen while young pacer Jasprit Bumrah rose to a career-best No.3 among the bowlers.
Kohli, who struck two centuries during India’s 2-1 victory in the three-match ODI rubber against New Zealand, has moved back to the top position within 10 days of losing it to South Africa batsman AB de Villiers.
The 28-year-old Delhi batsman, who scored 263 runs in the series against New Zealand including knocks of 121 in the first ODI in Mumbai and 113 in the final game in Kanpur, has reached 889 points, which is the best ever by an India batsman. The previous highest points tally of 887 was managed by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 and by Kohli earlier this year.
India opener Rohit Sharma’s 174 runs in the series, which included a fine 147 in the final match, has seen him reach a career-high rating of 799 points, even though he remains in seventh position.
South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis (up two places to 8th), former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (up one place to 11th), New Zealand batsman Tom Latham (up15 places to a career-best 23rd), Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed (up three places to 37th) and Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne (up six places to 47th) are among the batsmen to move up in the rankings.
Meanwhile, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has reached a career-best third position after finishing with six wickets in the series against the Black Caps. Bumrah rose three spots to be only behind table toppers — Imran Tahir of South Africa at second and Hasan Ali of Pakistan at the top.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel is the only other Indian in the top-10 of the ODI bowlers chart.
However, India’s 2-1 win over the Kiwis was not enough for them to overtake South Africa, which hold the top ranking in the ICC ODI Team Rankings at 121 points, ahead of the men-in-blue by two points.
