The dominance of Pakistan at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Batter Rankings is in jeopardy after a sizable contingent of Indian players gained ground after their unbeaten start to the Asia Cup.
India has not yet suffered a loss in the Asia Cup, and a large part of their success can be attributed to a strong top order that has been well-managed by Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and captain Rohit Sharma. With two half-centuries and 154 runs already under his belt in the tournament, Gill has earned a spot in the newest rankings that is a career-high behind only Pakistan captain Babar Azam.
With Babar leading the pack with 863 rating points and the India opener following closely behind with 759 points, Gill has significantly cut the distance on the Pakistan captain.
India has three players in the top 10 for the first time in more than four and a half years, with Gill not the only star on the rise. Kohli and Rohit both rose two spots to eighth and ninth, respectively, on the most recent batter rankings. The last time India had three players this high in the ODI batter rankings was at the beginning of 2019 when opener Shikhar Dhawan joined Rohit and Virat within the top 10. That was back in January of that year.
Even if Imam-ul-Haq goes to fifth place and fellow opener Fakhar Zaman drops three spots, Pakistan still has three players among the top 10 batters.
As a result of his nine wickets at the Asia Cup, veteran Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav has risen five spots to seventh on the revised list of ODI bowlers, while colleague Hardik Pandya has climbed four spots to sixth on the list of ODI all-rounders. Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, Pakistan’s fast bowling tandem, improved significantly despite suffering niggling injuries during their most recent match against India. This was good news for Pakistan’s bowlers as well.
Following a three-wicket performance in the opening game of their current series with South Africa, Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood extends his lead atop the ODI bowler rankings. A number of his teammates and Proteas stars also gain ground.
Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa both move up on the list of ODI bowlers (up 10 spots to 25th and 15 spots to tie for 29th, respectively), while Proteas captain Temba Bavuma jumps a whopping 21 spots to 11th and a new career-high rating on the rankings for ODI batters following his impressive century in that series opener in Bloemfontein.
Following his quickfire half-century in the third game of the South Africa series, Australian veteran David Warner moves up one spot to fourth on the updated batter rankings, while fellow left-hander Travis Head moves up six spaces to 20th on the same list.
T20 International cricket is perhaps taking a backseat as the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India approaches, but there has been some change in the standings after the conclusion of England’s home series against New Zealand.
The most notable movers on the new list of T20I batters are teammates Tim Seifert (up 32 spots to 21st) and Mark Chapman (up six spots to tie for 23rd), as well as Kiwi dasher Glenn Phillips, who moves up three spots to 11th.
The two most notable climbers on the new T20I bowler rankings are New Zealanders Mitchell Santner (up four spots to 15th) and Ish Sodhi (up four spots to 16th), while England’s veteran batsman Jonny Bairstow jumps a whopping 31 spots to 30th following his quick-fire 73 in the series’ final match.
