A significant number of Indian players gained ground in the most recent update following their undefeated start to the Asia Cup, putting Pakistan’s monopoly at the top of the ICC Men’s ODI Batter Rankings in jeopardy.
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 competition, 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 skipper.
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 also rose two spots to eighth and ninth, respectively, on the most recent batter rankings.
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 hitters.
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.
The improvement of fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, who rose eight and eleven ranks, respectively, to tie for 51st and 21st in the updated rankings, brought some happiness to 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 bowling rankings. A number of his colleagues and Proteas players 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.
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