Indian skipper Virat Kohli has reclaimed the number one spot in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen.
Kohli, who was on the third rank earlier, has jumped two places riding on the twin half-centuries in the ongoing Champions Trophy in three innings and has regained top spot with rankings of 862 in totality. Following him is the Australian batsman David Warner, whose ranking is just one less than Kohli i.e. 861.
A slump in form in the remaining games of Champions Trophy can cost Kohli his top spot and other batsmen have a chance to take over the Indian skipper.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers is on the third rank, whereas, Joe Root and Kane Williamson are on fourth and fifth rank, respectively. Shikhar Dhawan is the only other Indian batsman in top 10 and is placed at 10th position in the rankings.
On the other hand, Josh Hazlewood, the Australian bowler tops the bowling chart. The Aussie pacer has jumped four places to claim the top position in the rankings. Though Australia failed to win even a single game in this year’s Champions Trophy, Hazlewood revelled in the ICC tournament by claiming a total of nine wickets in three games.
Following him is the South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, with a total of 718 points. Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada and Sunil Narine are placed at a third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
There is also a surprise entrant in the list form in of Rashid Khan, who has climbed 18 spots to place himself at seventh place with a total of 647 points. The Afghanistan leg-spinner has scalped a total of 10 wickets in two of the three match ODI series against West Indies, which helped him to break into top ten rankings.
Axar Patel, who is placed at the 14th rank, is top ranked Indian bowler followed by Amit Mishra, who succeeds him at 15th position. Ravichandran Ashwin is the only Indian bowler from Champions Trophy squad to be placed in top 20 of the ICC rankings.
