Daryl Mitchell overtakes Rohit Sharma to become world’s top-ranked ODI batter
Dubai
Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s short-lived stint at the top of the ICC ODI batters’ rankings ended on Wednesday as New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell rose to No. 1 following a superb century against the West Indies. Mitchell, who smashed his seventh ODI hundred in the opening game of the series, became only the second New Zealander after Glenn Turner in 1979 to hold the premier spot in ODI batting.
Mitchell now sits on 782 rating points — just one ahead of Rohit — whose reign at the summit lasted around three weeks. The in-form Kiwi joins a distinguished list of New Zealanders such as Martin Crowe, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor who have broken into the top five over the years, though none besides Turner and Mitchell have ever claimed the top rank.
Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran slipped to third, while India continue to enjoy strong representation in the top bracket with Shubman Gill (4th), Virat Kohli (5th) and Shreyas Iyer (8th) all featuring inside the top 10.
Pakistan players also made significant gains after their 3-0 ODI series sweep over Sri Lanka. Mohammad Rizwan climbed five spots to joint 22nd, while Fakhar Zaman rose to 26th. In the bowling charts, Abrar Ahmed jumped 11 places to ninth and Haris Rauf moved up to 23rd, though Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan continues to lead the ODI bowling rankings.
Across formats, the latest Test rankings saw South Africa captain Temba Bavuma break into the top five for the first time following his resilient 55* against India in Kolkata. Shubman Gill rose to 11th despite sustaining an injury, while Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto climbed to equal 34th after a century in Sylhet.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah retained his No. 1 position among Test bowlers, with teammates Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja also improving their standings. South Africa’s Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer made notable progress, with Jansen additionally moving to fifth among Test all-rounders.