India captain Virat Kohli surpassed AB de Villiers and David Warner to reclaim the top spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen. Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, meanwhile, topped the ODI bowlers’ rankings for the first time in his career. South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada, who had gained the No.1 spot last month, dropped to fourth place.
Unbeaten knocks of 81 and 76 against Pakistan and South Africa in the ongoing Champions Trophy helped Kohli overtake Warner and de Villers, who had climbed to No.1 in March this year. Kohli, who had briefly held the No. 1 ranking in January, has a one-point lead over Warner. De Villiers, who had scores of 4, 0 and 16 in the Champions Trophy, dropped two places, and trails Warner by 14 points. Joe Root and Kane Williamson were ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
Hazlewood, who took nine wickets in three Champions Trophy matches, became the first Australian to top the ODI bowlers’ rankings since Mitchell Starc in October 2015. Imran Tahir and Starc retained their second and third rankings respectively. Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan gained 18 places to surge to seventh.
India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who is the leading run-getter in the Champions Trophy so far, leapfrogged five of his peers to return to the top ten. Dhawan scored 271 runs in three innings during the league stage of the tournament, with two fifties and a century.
In the allrounders’ list, Ben Stokes gained one place to displace Mitchell Marsh at No. 6, while Shakib Al Hasan retained his place as the top ODI allrounder. Stokes did much better on the batting rankings, gaining nine points to climb to a career-best 20th, following an unbeaten 102 against Australia.
South Africa, who exited the Champions Trophy after two losses in three league matches, retained their No. 1 spot on the team rankings, leading Australia and India by two points. England gained two points to climb to fourth and have a three-point lead over New Zealand. If the final of the Champions Trophy is contested between India and England, and if India win, they will secure a slim lead over South Africa and become the No. 1 ODI team.
The ICC’s top 10
Batsmen: 1. Virat Kohli, 2. David Warner, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Joe Root, 5 Kane Williamson, 6 Quinton de Kock, 7 Faf du Plessis, 8 Babar Azam, 9 Martin Guptill, 10 Shikhar Dhawan
Bowlers: 1. Josh Hazlewood, 2. Imran Tahir, 3 Mitchell Starc, 4 Kagiso Rabada, 5 Sunil Narine, 6 Trent Boult, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Mohammad Nabi (ESPNCricinfo)
