India’s batting maestro Virat Kohli held on to the number two position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen released in Dubai on Monday, while Rohit Sharma dropped a place to seventh. Opener Shikhar Dhawan maintained his eighth position.
Root, Hales Rewarded For Performance
England batsman Joe Root has surged into the top five of rankings for the first time after a stellar performance against Pakistan, which earned him the player of the series award. The 25-year-old scored 274 runs in the series, which helped him leapfrog New Zealand’s duo of Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill as well as India batsman Rohit Sharma into fourth position in the latest player rankings.
Alex Hales has risen four places to reach 20th spot after aggregating 223 runs in the series, including a belligerent 171 in the third ODI, captain Eoin Morgan has gained four places and is now in 24th spot, while Jason Roy’s series contribution of 181 runs have helped him rise 10 places to share 35th spot with Dinesh Chandimal, who himself has moved up 15 places following a good series with the bat against Australia.
The good news for Pakistan was the movement of its captain Azhar Ali and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Azhar’s 208 runs in the series has seen him move up 15 places to 33rd rank, while Sarfraz, who was the highest run-getter in the series from either side with 300 runs, has moved up 21 places to 39th position.
De Villiers, Starc Lead The Charts
Australia, which scripted a 4-1 series win over Sri Lanka, saw Aaron Finch and George Bailey move up two and three places, respectively. Finch is now in 15th position while Bailey claims 17th spot. Bailey finished the series as the most successful batsman with 270 runs, which later earned him the player of the series award, with 34 runs more than Chandimal who ended up in 35th spot after rising 15 places.
AB de Villiers of South Africa is the number-one ranked ODI batsman, and he is followed by India’s Virat Kohli and team-mate Hashim Amla, in second and third positions, respectively.
In the players rankings for bowlers, Australia pacers Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner and John Hastings have made significant gains after their performances in Sri Lanka.