India’s talented young opener Shubman Gill is within touching distance of becoming the no.1 ranked ODI batter, a position that is held currently by Pakistani captain Babar Azam. The latest ICC rankings update showed that Babar’s lead at the top has diminished with Gill making huge inroads.
Shubman Gill has had a good outing in the first two ODIs against Australia, scoring 74 and 104. He amassed a total of 178 runs before being rested for the third ODI. Gill now has a total of 847 rating points and is just 10 rating points behind Babar, ahead of the start of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup on October 5.
With Gill sitting out of the third ODI and Pakistan not playing any ODI match before the World Cup begins, Babar will enter this year's tournament with the top ranking.
But the race for the top spot between Babar and Shubman will continue to be closely fought throughout the six weeks of the World Cup, with the pair holding a massive lead over their nearest challengers.
South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen (743 rating points) is third on the batter rankings and more than 100 points adrift of the leading duo. Ireland’s Harry Tector rose to the fourth spot. India duo Shreyas Iyer (up eight places to 30th) and KL Rahul (up six spots to 33rd) also saw a rise in rankings.
Mohammed Siraj remains the no.1 ranked ODI bowler in the world. He holds an 11-point lead over Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood at the top of the rankings despite the fact he didn't feature in the first two matches of the ongoing ODI series against the Aussies.
Just 55 rating points separate the top 10 players on the ODI bowler rankings, with Adam Zampa moving to the 7th spot. Mohammad Shami (up nine spots to equal 25th) and Australia counterpart Sean Abbott (up 14 places to equal 45th) also make some ground on this list.
(ICC inputs)
