LAHORE: Indian right-hander Shubman Gill overtakes former Pakistan captain Babar Azam to become the top ranked ODI batter in the world, while Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana climbs atop the Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings - taking the premier position for the first time by surpassing Afghanistan’s spinner Rashid Khan.
It’s a major shake-up at the top of the ICC rankings leaving an interesting sub-plot to what will transpire over the coming weeks during the eight-team tournament in Pakistan and Dubai.
This is the second time Gill has held the No.1 ranking in ODI cricket, with the India batter having also gone past Babar to claim top spot midway through the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023. Gill has been in excellent form of late, with his century against England in Ahmadabad during the third ODI of the recently concluded series enough to catapult the 25-year-old to the top of the rankings.
Pakistani batter Babar drops to second place and 23 rating points behind the new No.1, while India skipper Rohit Sharma remains in the third spot and 45 rating points behind his fellow Indian opener.
While Sri Lanka won’t be featuring at the Champions Trophy, Theekshana earned the top spot following his exploits against the Aussies that included an excellent four-wicket haul in the opening match of that series in Colombo.
Meanwhile, Afghan spin wizard Rashid drops to second and will be keen to regain the No.1 spot as he trails his Sri Lankan counterpart by just 11 rating points, while a trio of spinners in India’s squad Kuldeep Yadav (up one place to fourth), South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj (re-enters the rankings in sixth) and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner (up four runs to seventh) are all inside the top 10 after making ground this week. Afghanistan veteran Mohammad Nabi maintains a lead at the top of the rankings for ODI all-rounder, with Santner gaining one place inside the top 10 to move up to sixth overall.
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