Indian captain Virat Kohli and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah have retained their respective number one positions in the ICC ODI player rankings, updated on March 17.
Captain Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who are ranked one and two in the batsmen rankings, scored 310 and 202 runs, respectively, in their home series against Australia which they lost 2-3, while New Zealand’s former captain Ross Taylor has managed to retain the third spot.
South African opener Quinton de Kock has grabbed the fourth position after playing a huge part in his team’s 5-0 victory over Sri Lanka. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman’s 353 runs in the series, which included one century and three half-centuries, helped him win the player of the series award and gain four slots in the latest rankings, which also see his captain Faf du Plessis move up to the fifth position after scoring 272 runs.
West Indies opener Chris Gayle’s effort of 424 runs, including two centuries, lifted him 35 places to 41st position, New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill’s 264 runs have taken him from 19th to ninth position, Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan has moved up 16 places to 87th position while Usman Khawaja’s 383 runs have lifted him 83 places to a career-best 25th place.
Other batsmen to move up include Jos Buttler (up five places to 13th) and Eoin Morgan (up three places to 17th) of England, Shimron Hetmyer of the West Indies (up 16 places to 23rd), India’s Kedar Jadhav (up 11 places to a career-best 24th), Australia’s Marc Stoinis (up 15 places to 29th) and South Africa’s Aiden Markram (up 12 places to 89th).
In the list for bowlers led by Bumrah, two formerly top-ranked players have made significant gains. New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult has moved up one place to second after finishing with six wickets against Bangladesh while South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir has gained seven slots to reach the fourth place after taking nine wickets against Sri Lanka.
Other bowlers to advance include Australia’s Pat Cummins (up 13 places to seventh), New Zealand’s Lachlan Ferguson (up 12 places to 22nd), England’s Mark Wood (up eight places to 24th), South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi (up 21 places to 26th), West Indies captain Jason Holder (up 10 places to 30th) and Andy McBrine of Ireland (up 10 places to 42nd).
Meanwhile, South Africa have gained one point while Sri Lanka has lost two points in the ODI team rankings. There have been no significant changes during the five series except for New Zealand narrowly edging past South Africa to third position and Australia going past Pakistan to the fifth position.
(With inputs from ANI)