Opener Rohit Sharma surges to 5th position in MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings; Kohli remains on top

Dubai, October 3: Indian skipper Virat Kohli remained at the top position while dynamic opener Rohit Sharma moved up four places to reach the fifth position in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings that was released on Monday.

 

Notably, Indian opener surged four spots to gain the fifth place in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings after finishing as the leading scorer in the home series against Australia which India won 4-1 on Sunday. Sharma’s 296 runs in the series, which included a fine 125 in the last match in Nagpur, contributed significantly to India’s convincing victory over the World champions that helped the home side grab the No.1 position in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings.

Sharma is now on a career-best 790 rating points but his highest ranking has been third, which he attained in February 2016. Other openers in the series have also made noteworthy gains. Sharma’s opening partner Ajinkya Rahane has moved up four places to reach 24th position while Australia’s opening pair of Aaron Finch and David Warner have proved more prolific and the results show in the latest rankings that also take into account the five-match series in England which the home side won 4-0 against the Windies.

Finch has gained nine slots to reach 17th position while Warner has closed in on No. 1 ranked Virat Kohli, bridging the pre-series gap of 26 points to just 12 points as he has moved to 865 points.

Other batsmen moving up include Kedhar Jadhav of India (up eight places to a career-best 36th), Marcus Stoinis of Australia (up 74 places to 54th), Jason Roy (up seven places to 30th), Jonny Bairstow (up 48 places to 40th) and Moeen Ali (up 18 places to 56th) of England, and the Windies pair of Jason Holder (up 11 places to 73rd) and Evin Lewis (up 31 places to 78th).

In the rankings for bowlers, South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir has regained the top spot after Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood missed the India series due to a side strain and lost 18 points in the process. Tahir is now just four points ahead of Hazlewood at 718 points.

In other movements, India’s left-arm spinner Akshar Patel has reached a career-best seventh position after moving up three places while wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (up 24 places to 75th) and Kuldeep Yadav (up nine places to 80th) have also moved northwards.

Other bowlers to move up include Australia’s Nathan Coulter-Nile (up 49 places to a career-best 44th position) and Pat Cummins (up seven places to 21st), and England’s Liam Plunkett (up three places to 10th) and Adil Rashid (up four places to 12th). In the list of all-rounders led by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, England’s Ben Stokes has moved into the top five.