India's newly recruited full time skipper Rohit Sharma, after his his half-century knock against West Indies in the first ODI, mustered some valuable points to close in on his predecessor Virat Kohli in the latest ICC men's ODI batting rankings. The two are placed no.3 and no.2 respectively.
The 34-year-old Rohit now has 807 rating points against Kohli's 828. He marked his return to the India team with a half-century as the hosts cruised to a six-wicket victory over Caribbeans in the first one-day international of their three-match series. Chasing 177 for the win in Ahmedabad, skipper Rohit led the way with 60 from just 51 balls which included 10 fours and one six as India romped home with 22 overs to spare. He set the early tone for India as they cantered home after the West Indies were eventually bundled out for 176, having been 76-7 at one point, with Yuzvendra Chahal claiming his 100th ODI wicket while returning figures of 4-49.
Meanwhile, leaving everyone behind Pakistan captain Babar Azam continued his dominance in the ODI rankings and held the top spot with 873 rating points. His compatriot Fakhar Zaman and England batter Joe Root broke into the top 10. South Africa's Quinton de Kock is fourth with 783 points.
Meanwhile, West Indies' Shai Hope, who scored eight runs in the first ODI against India, lost out on valuable points and slipped out of the top 10. While quite a few positions shifted in the batting rankings, there was no movement in the top 10 of the bowlers. India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remained unchanged on seventh.
In the all-rounders’ list, Ravindra Jadeja was placed eighth, while West Indies’ Jason Holder, following his half-century in the first ODI in Ahmedabad, went up four places to get into the top 20. With a major leap, Oman's Jatinder Singh, who made a ton in the first match of the UAE series, part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2, took a jump of 26 places to storm into top 100 of the batting rankings. The 32-year-old from the India origin is the second-highest run-scorer in the League 2 tournament with 594 runs in a total of 23 matches that he has played.
