Rohit Sharma rises to no. 2 in ICC ODI rankings

Dubai, Aug 13 (PTI) Amidst ongoing discussions about his future in international cricket, India's cricketing stalwart Rohit Sharma has climbed to the number two position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batters, released on Wednesday. At 38, Rohit, who hasn't played competitive cricket since the 2025 IPL season, unseated Babar Azam, pushing the Pakistani batter down to No. 3 following a series of low scores against the West Indies in their recent ODI series.

With 756 rating points, Rohit now trails just behind India's Test captain Shubman Gill, who maintains his standing at No. 1 with 784 points. Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli is at fourth place, accumulating 736 points.

Both Rohit and Kohli have hung their boots from the Test format ahead of the Indian team's England tour but have expressed their keen interest to continue in the ODI format. The two legendary players are expected to be back in action against Australia in a three-match ODI series in October, having commenced training to reclaim their form.

Recognized as one of the all-time greats in the ODI format alongside his longtime teammate Kohli, Rohit achieved his career-best ranking during the 2019 World Cup with 882 points, after scoring a record-setting fifth century in the tournament. They last appeared in ODIs during India’s triumphant Champions Trophy run in the UAE earlier this year. India currently flaunts five players in the top 15 of the men's ODI batting rankings, with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul seated at eighth and 15th positions, respectively.

Australian and South African Batters Shine

In the T20I rankings, in-form batters from Australia and South Africa stood out notably. Tim David, leading run-scorer from the first two matches of the T20I series against South Africa, has moved up six places to enter the top 10. His teammate Cameron Green also ascended six spots to reach 17th, while South African talent Dewald Brevis made a massive leap from outside the top 100 to 21st after a stunning 125-run innings in the series equalizer against Australia in Darwin. Fellow South African, Tristan Stubbs, climbed 12 spots to 27th. Meanwhile, in the T20I bowler's rankings, Josh Hazlewood improved three spots to 20th, as Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi moved up to equal 44th and 50th, respectively.

In Test cricket, several New Zealand players moved up in the rankings following their comprehensive 2-0 series victory over Zimbabwe. Pacer Matt Henry's exceptional performance, capturing 16 wickets at an average of 9.12, earned him the Player of the Series accolade and propelled his ranking to a career-best third position among Test bowlers. He now sits behind only India's Jasprit Bumrah and South Africa's Kagiso Rabada. New Zealand batters also gained, with Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, and Henry Nicholls climbing in the rankings for their impressive performances in Zimbabwe.

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