 "Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were among the top-five ODI batters in the world earlier this month before their names suddenly disappeared from the ICC rankings list. Reuters")
The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a clarification after Indian batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma mysteriously disappeared from the ODI batting rankings that was released on Wednesday. The Dubai-based governing body for the sport confirmed that it was indeed a technical glitch that had resulted in the two modern-era superstars getting removed from the list.
“There was an error in our rankings tables today, but it has been rectified,” an ICC spokesperson told Hindustan Times.
Rohit and Kohli’s names were later restored in the rankings, and they currently occupy the 2nd and 4th spots respectively. India Test captain Shubman Gill, recently appointed T20I vice-captain during the BCCI’s Asia Cup squad announcement, leads the standings with 784 rating points while Rohit and Pakistan star Babar Azam occupy the next two spots with 756 and 739 points respectively.
Kohli (736) and New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell (720) complete the top five. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, is the fourth Indian in the top-10, occupying the 8th spot with 704 points.
What the ICC’s rules state on player rankings
The ICC’s rules state that a player can be removed from the top-100 in the rankings list if they have not played a match within the qualifying period – which stands at 12-15 months for Tests and 9-12 months for white-ball formats ODIs and T20Is.
A player will also be removed from the ICC rankings if they have retired from international cricket. If they have quit a specific format then his/her name will be removed from the corresponding rankings and will continue to appear in other lists.
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As far as Rohit and Kohli are concerned, they had retired from Twenty20 Internationals after helping India win the T20 World Cup in June last year, and had quit Test cricket in May .
Impact Shorts
More ShortsRohit and Kohli, however, had starred in India’s triumph in the ICC Champions Trophy in March , the former as captain. With only five months having passed since the Men in Blue’s victory over New Zealand in the final in Dubai, there’s plenty of time before the Ro-Ko pair are officially removed from the rankings list.