Pakistan’s Babar Azam continues his reign as the top-ranked ODI batter in the ICC rankings but Rohit Sharma moved up to the second position on the back of his excellent outing for India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The Men in Blue lost the series by a 0-2 margin as Sri Lankan spinners wreaked havoc on favourable pitches. However, Rohit held his own and finished as the leading run-getter in the series, scoring 157 runs from three innings at an average of 52.33 and a strike rate of 141.44. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill dropped down to No. 3 after managing only 57 runs from the three games. Virat Kohli also had a dismal campaign in the Island Nation, scoring 58 in three outings. The former India captain is placed at No. 4 in the rankings.
Pathum Nissanka, on the other hand, rose one spot to No. 8 after scoring 101 runs from three games at 33.67. His compatriots, Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis scored 137 and 103 runs, respectively. While Avishka moved up 20 places to No. 68, Mendis made it to a joint No. 39 after a leap of five spots.
Coming back to the top two spots, Rohit Sharma has 765 points to his name, while Babar Azam is well ahead with 824 points. Meanwhile, Dunith Wellalage, who picked up a five-for in the third ODI, climbed 17 places to No. 59 among the bowlers.
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Bavuma, Maharaj move up the ranking after first Test versus West Indies
Earlier this week, South Africa and the West Indies played out a tense draw in the first Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma scored 86 in the first innings, and with 15 not out coming in the second, he moved up two spots to 16th on the batters’ rankings in Tests. Outside of the top 50, opener, Tony de Zorzi rose 29 spots to 85th after scoring 78 and 45, while Jason Holder and Alick Athanaze made progress.
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Keshav Maharaj was the star of the show with the ball for South Africa with returns of 4 for 76 and 4 for 88, and that earned him the Player-of-the-Match award. His solid performance catapulted him to as well as a joint 21st on the Test bowlers’ table after seeing a jump of seven spots.