The latest ICC player rankings show major movements across both the ODI and T20I formats. The good news for Indian cricket is that Test and one-day captain Shubman Gill is closing in on the number 1 spot in the ODI batting rankings.
He rose to the 2nd spot, thanks to a match winning performance during India’s 6-wicket victory against England in the 3-match ODI series opener at Edgbaston, where the Indian captain scored 80 runs before getting retired hurt with a cramp on his right leg.
Shubman Gill had also put up some tremendous performances in the home ODI series against Afghanistan, scoring 126, 84* and 154 respectively. Yesterday at Edgbaston, Gill could have scored a hundred if it wasn’t for those cramps which saw him leave the pitch in the 26th over.
Regardless, Gill’s knock earned him 12 rating points, taking his total to 803. He now sits just 11 points behind New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, who holds the top spot. Meanwhile, senior Indian batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have maintained their consistency, holding onto their 3rd and 4th positions respectively. England’s Joe Root also made progress in the ODI rankings, jumping six places to joint 12th after hitting an unbeaten run-a-ball 76.
In the T20I rankings, players from both England and India registered massive gains after England’s recent 4-0 home series victory. English skipper Harry Brook entered the top 10 for the first time in his career, climbing 12 slots to reach a career-best 7th place.
Brook finished as the Player of the Series after scoring 229 runs across 4 matches against India, which included a destructive and unbeaten 95 off just 45 balls in the final game at Southampton. His teammate Jos Buttler also moved up to 6th place after scoring 131 runs, while fast bowler Jofra Archer jumped 8 spots to joint 18th in the bowling rankings after taking 7 wickets in the series.
For India, Shreyas Iyer, the T20I captain, made a massive leap of 62 spots to reach 31st place in the batting rankings. Iyer had an impressive series, scoring 218 runs, highlighted by an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls in the fourth game. Ishan Kishan continues to hold the summit
Other international players also made significant moves this week. Zimbabwe’s Ben Curran leaped 31 places to 34th after scoring an unbeaten 111 in a series-clinching win against Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Tanzid Hasan rose 12 places to a career-high 25th after hitting 57 and 94 in his last two games.
In Guyana, West Indies batter Keacy Carty returned to the top 20, landing in 19th place after scoring 95 in a win over New Zealand. In the ODI bowling department, Bangladesh’s Shoriful Islam entered the top 15 for the first time, while his teammate Taskin Ahmed climbed to a career-high 21st place.
