Team India opener Shafali Verma moved 12 places ahead to bag a career-best 36th place in the ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for batters. The 18-year-old received significant gains in the rankings after playing a key role in helping India take a 2-0 lead against Sri Lanka in the ICC Women's Championship (IWC) series being played in Pallekele.
The young batter currently leads the top-scorers chart in the on-going series with 106 runs. In fact, her unbeaten 70 helped India register a ten-wicket win over the Lankans in the second ODI. A former No 1 in the T20 rankings, Shafali is now ranked fifth in the shortest format of the game.
Deepti Sharma rises in rankings
Meanwhile, Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who claimed the Player of the Match award in the second ODI following her three wickets for 25 and an unbeaten 22, jumped two places to 29th among batters and three slots to 16th among bowlers, respectively.
In the all-rounder rankings, the 24-year-old gained 20 rating points and is just one point behind Australia's Ashleigh Gardner, who is sixth on the list.
Other Indians with improved rankings
The other Indians, whose rankings imroved include Pooja Vastrakar (up three places to 61st), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (up four places to 93rd), and Meghna Singh (up seven places to 100th). They also recorded gains in the bowling rankings, with Gayakwad moving from 12th to 11th, Meghna from 58th to 47th, and Vastrakar from 57th to 50th respectively.
Player of the Match in the first ODI, seamer Renuka Singh emerged as a major gainer. Her total of seven wickets in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka lifted her 38 places to 65th in the bowling rankings. The two wins against the Lankans have taken Team India to joint-second position alongside Pakistan in the IWC points table.
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