DUBAI: Indian opening batter Shubman Gill has replaced Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam, ending his more than two-year reign at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s ODI Batting Rankings.
Shubman Gill became the fourth Indian player to become the No. 1 ODI batter after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, on the back of his solid performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam has scored 282 runs from eight outings in the mega event and lost six rating points, hence slipping to the second position for the first time after occupying the top spot for more than two years.
Shubman Gill has accumulated a total of 219 runs from six innings at the tournament including a 92 against Sri Lanka.
Overall, Indian players gained substantial rewards in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Rankings, owing to India’s undefeated run in the ICC World Cup 2023.
India’s star batter Virat Kohli jumped three places to reach the fourth spot, with a difference of a mere one rating point from South African Quinton de Kock, who is ranked third.
Kohli is currently the second-highest run-getter in the ICC World Cup 2023 with 543 runs from eight innings, only behind De Kock, who has scored 550 runs in as many innings with four centuries.
India’s Shreyas Iyer also made a big leap of 17 places to reach 18th position after amassing 293 runs from eight innings, while Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman jumped three spots to 11th and Afghanistan’s opener Ibrahim Zadran reached 12th after jumping six spots.
Shubman Gill’s opening partner and India’s captain Rohit Sharma is placed at the sixth spot with 739 rating points.
On the other hand, the Indian bowlers also earned a place in the top ten of the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings, after wreaking havoc throughout the ICC World Cup 2023.
Pace bowler Mohammed Siraj regained his top spot in the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings after jumping two spots, whereas fellow pacer Mohammed Shami climbed seven spots to tenth, after picking 16 wickets in four games in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Jaspirt Bumrah gained three places to reach the fourth and eighth positions respectively.
Pakistan’s pace bowler, Shaheen Afridi, who became the number one ODI bowler last week, lost his place and slipped four places down to fifth position, equalling Australia’s Josh Hazlewood with 658 rating points.
Australia’s Adam Zampa, who is currently the second leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 wickets jumped six places to reach third position, whereas, the leading wicket-taker Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka climbed 31 places to 45th.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan continues to lead the ICC ODI All-Rounder Rankings, however, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell gained two spots to sixth after his match-winning double-hundred against Afghanistan yesterday
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