Jhulan Goswami reclaims No. 1 spot in ODI bowlers rankings after England heroics
Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami has leapfrogged Australia's Megan Schutt and Pakistan's Sana Mir to take up the No. 1 position in ICC ODI bowling rankings once again. Goswami had last been atop the rankings in February 2017 and after Mir’s impressive performance, she had to concede the position.
After India won the ODI series against England, there are rewards galore for many players in the team as just after Smriti Mandhana consolidated her position at the top of the table, Goswami managed to reclaim the spot that he had conceded a couple of years ago.
The Bengal pacer took eight wickets in the recently-concluded ODI series against England, which the hosts won 2-1 and reached the second spot in the eight-team championship. It was not only Goswami who made a huge leap in the bowling rankings as her pace twin Shikha Pandey jumped 12 places to finish in the fifth position.
Goswami, who is also the most successful bowler in ODIs with 218 wickets, has also inched closer to the record for the most number of days at the top. She has now been number one for 1873 days, with only retired Australia fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick having spent more time at the top, for 2113 days. It is also for the first time in nine years that two Indian ladies are in the top five after Goswami and Rumeli Dhar enjoyed the
Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana, who is the currently leading the run-scoring chart in the ICC Women’s Championship with 837 runs, has consolidated her top-position with a career-best 797 points. This is also a new phenomenon for the Indian cricket team as last time Indians topped both the batting and bowling lists was in March 2012 when Mithali Raj and Goswami led the tables.