Virat Kohli has kept his stranglehold on the top spot in the International One-day International batting rankings and has also equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of highest rating points pocketed by an Indian, reported PTI.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has made handsome gains in the bowlers’ rankings, jumping as many as 27 places to be fourth behind Mitchell Starc, Imran Tahir and leader Josh Hazlewood.
The latest rankings were released on Monday, day after India completed a 5-0 whitewash of hosts Sri Lanka in the ODI series. Kohli was in sublime touch in the series, scoring two hundreds to complete 30 ODI centuries.
Kohli, who is also top-ranked in T20Is, has increased his lead over Australia’s David Warner from 12 to 26 points and is now on 887 points, equalling the highest ODI rating points by an India batsman, recorded by Tendulkar in 1998.
Rohit Sharma, the second highest run-maker in the series with 302 runs, and former captain MS Dhoni are both back in the top 10. Sharma, who struck two centuries in Sri Lanka, has gained five slots to reach ninth place while Dhoni’s 162 runs have lifted him two places to 10th position.
Meanwhile, Bumrah has moved to a career-best fourth position in the bowlers’ rankings. The 23-year-old, whose previous best was 24th position in June this year, has moved up the table with his player of the series effort of 15 wickets, the best by any bowler in a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka.
His performances included a career-best 5/27 in the third ODI at Palekelle. Also gaining in the rankings is India’s left-arm spinner Akshar Patel, who has moved up from 20th to 10th position after finishing with six wickets in four matches. Patel has thus closed in on his career-high rank of ninth in October last year.
Hardik Pandya (up two places to 61st), Kuldeep Yadav (up 21 places to 89th) and Yuzvendra Chahal (up 55 places to 99th) are other India bowlers to made forward strides in the rankings. In the team rankings, Sri Lanka were unable to seal a direct qualification place in the 2019 World Cup 2019, which they could have done by winning two matches in the series.
Though they are in a strong position to make the grade, the Windies can overtake them by beating Ireland in an upcoming match on September 13 and winning either all five matches against England or the last four matches for a 4-1 win in the series from September 19-29.
The top seven ODI sides apart from host England as on 30 September qualify directly. Teams not getting direct places will get another shot through a Qualifying tournament.
India remain in third position but have gained three points to close in on Australia, which is also on 117 points but remains ahead on decimal points.
