Kohli remains 3rd in ICC ODI rankings

Dubai: Captain Virat Kohli remained unchanged at third to be the best-placed Indian batsman in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued here on Friday.

Rohit Sharma (12th) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13th) follow Kohli, both of them also remaining static on their previous positions.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan, however, dropped a rung to be 15th.

Among the bowlers, Akshar Patel was the best-placed Indian at the 11th position.

South Africa’s AB de Villiers has regained the top spot in the rankings for ODI batsmen after leading the list of run-scorers in the recent series against New Zealand which his side won 3-2, ICC said in a statement.

De Villiers’s 262 runs in the series, including a highest of 85 in the third ODI at Wellington, have helped him overtake Australia opener David Warner at the top of the ladder, reclaiming the top spot within two months of losing it to India captain Virat Kohli.

De Villiers is on 875 points, four points ahead of Warner and 23 clear of Kohli in the rankings released on Friday that take into account performances in 15 ODIs including West Indies’ 3-0 loss to England, Afghanistan’s 3-2 win over Zimbabwe and Ireland’s 2-0 verdict over the United Arab Emirates.

It is for the 10th time that the 33-year-old de Villiers is at the top of the rankings since first taking the spot in May 2010. He has never been ranked outside the top five since September 2009.