ICC ODI rankings | Virat Kohli retains his third spot despite not playing for four months
Virat Kohli has still managed to hold onto the No.3 position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, despite playing his last ODI game in January. However, the bowlers’ rankings paint a bleak picture for India with no player in the top-10. Axar Patel (11) is the highest ranked Indian bowler.
Apart from Kohli, only Rohit Sharma (12th), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13th), and Shikhar Dhawan (16th) managed to break into the Top-20 list of batsmen in the latest ICC player rankings for One-Day International batsmen. Three bowlers, Axar Patel (11th), Amit Mishra (13th), and Ravichandran Ashwin (18th) have gotten a place in the bowlers’ Top-20 territory.
On the other hand, South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada moved up four places to secure the top spot among the bowlers and, thus, displaced his compatriot Imran Tahir from the top position. Rabada was quite instrumental in South Africa’s third and final ODI win against England at Lord’s on Monday, taking 4 for 39 in nine overs.
South Africa, who lost the just-concluded series 2-1 to England, managed to hold on to their top position in the team rankings while England gained two points from the series win but still remained fifth on the table.
With the Champions Trophy beginning tomorrow, the rankings will be changed depending on the results of the tournament. Australia and India could overtake South Africa by the next rankings update if they can win all their three league games and South Africa lose all three.