ICC ODI Rankings: Virat Kohli stays top with Rohit Sharma closing gap to just six points

London: India opener Rohit Sharma closed in on his captain Virat Kohli at the top of ICC ODI batting chart on the back of his astonishing run of the form in the World Cup. Kohli retained the top position among batsmen while his deputy Rohit bridged the gap at No 2 following his record five World Cup tons . [caption id=“attachment_6947521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rohit Sharma celebrates scoring his 5th century at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. AP[/caption] Kohli’s 442 runs at an average of 63.14 in the ongoing 50-over showpiece, which includes five half-centuries, have seen him gain one point to reach 891 points. Rohit, meanwhile, has bridged the gap with Kohli from 51 points to only six after becoming the first batsman to score five centuries in the World Cup. His 885 points going into the semi-finals are his career-high. There have been many other notable movements in the batting list, with Pakistan’s Babar Azam going up to the third place, just behind his career-high second place achieved in June 2018. Australia opener David Warner has re-entered the top 10 at number six after a highly successful group stage at the mega-event that saw him aggregate 638 runs, just nine less than leading scorer Rohit. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s consistent efforts have seen him rise four places and back into the top-10 at eighth place while Australia’s Usman Khawaja has risen to a career-high 15th place. England openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow have both risen in the rankings with Roy reaching a career-best 13th place. India are ruling the roost in the ODI rankings with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah extending his lead at the top from 21 points to 56 points after grabbing 17 wickets in the nine league matches at the World Cup. New Zealand’s Trent Boult remained in the second spot after a memorable league phase that included a hat-trick against Australia, the first-ever in ODI cricket at Lord’s. Australia pacer Pat Cummins has moved up three places to the third spot ahead of South African pair of Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir, who have interchanged their positions. Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb-ur-Rahman (6th) and Rashid Khan (8th) remain in the top-10 despite their team losing all matches, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc (7th) and Mohammad Amir of Pakistan (12th) have also improved. The England pair of Jofra Archer (up 103 places to 42) and Mark Wood (up 10 places to 19), as well as rising Pakistan star Shaheen Afridi (up 34 places to 23rd) are among the others to gain in the latest rankings update. Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has retained the top spot among all-rounders, while England’s Ben Stokes has gained nine places to reach second position. In the ICC ODI Team Rankings, England remain in first position at 123 points but only ahead of India on decimal points. New Zealand and Australia are similarly both on 112 with the former fractionally ahead, and South Africa fifth on 110 points.