Kohli retains 2nd spot in ICC batting rankings, Rohit remains at 3rd

Dubai: India stalwart Virat Kohli retained his second spot in the ICC men’s ODI batting rankings on the back of his decent performance in the recently-concluded South Africa series.

Kohli, who stepped down from the Indian team Test captaincy after the away series against South Africa, scored 116 runs in the three-match ODI rubber against the Proteas, including two half-centuries.

Another India senior player Rohit Sharma, who has been named Kohli’s successor in the India ODI team, also maintained his third place despite not playing in the South Africa series as he was recovering from an injury.

Kohli has 836 rating points to his kitty, while Rohit has 801. Pakistan captain Babar Azam leads the ODI batting rankings with 873 points.

South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen broke into the top 10 after a brilliant outing in the series against India. He went up 10 places to be at no 10 spot with 750 rating points, while teammate Quinton de Kock, who hit a century in the series against India, also went up four places to occupy the fifth position.

De Kock and van der Dussen topped the ODI run charts with 229 and 218 runs respectively, with both players making hundreds in the series. De Kock averaged 76.33 while van der Dussen scored his runs at a staggering 218, and those performances have been reflected on the recent ICC ODI rankings. Captain Temba Bavuma, who was the third centurion in the series against India, also climbed 21 places to be placed at 59th spot. Bavuma notched up 153 runs in three matches at an average of 51. In the bowling rankings, Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj made big leaps. Ngidi went up four places to occupy no 20 spot, picking up five wickets at 31.40. India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had an ordinary ODI series, meanwhile dropped four places to lie at no 22.

Maharaj, who dismissed Kohli twice in the ODI series, and impressed with his economy rate, went up 18 places to occupy the no 33 spot. There wasn’t too much movement in the top 10 with Kiwi Trent Boult and Australian Josh Hazlewood continuing to occupy the top two positions.

In the ODI all-rounder rankings, Andile Phehlukwayo, who topped the wickets chart in the ODI series against India with six wickets, went up three places to be at the 15th position. Meanwhile, in the T20I batting rankings, Dawid Malan lost three places after missing the first two T20Is against West Indies. He currently sits at no 4. Jos Buttler also slid three places and dropped outside the top 10.

Adil Rashid went up by one place to go level with Adam Zampa in the third position after picking up three wickets in the two T20Is. That apart, there wasn’t much movement in the top 10.

Meanwhile, Moeen Ali’s all-round showing in the narrow win in the second T20I against West Indies saw him go up by four places in the T20I all-rounder rankings to be at no 5 behind Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan, Glenn Maxwell and Wanindu Hasaranga.