ICC Rankings: Rohit Sharma's Reign At Top Comes To An End, Falls To 2nd Among ODI Batters

Indian star Rohit Sharma dropped down to second place after a brief reign at the top with New Zealander Daryl Mitchell dislodging him in the ICC ODI batters' rankings issued on Wednesday.

Mitchell became the second New Zealander to hold the No.1 spot for ODI batters on the back of an excellent century against the West Indies.

He scored his seventh ODI century during the opening game in the series against the Caribbean side, and that proved enough for the in-form right-hander to overtake Rohit at the top and claim the premier position for the first time in his career.

Mitchell currently has 782 rating points, one more than Rohit, whose reign at the top spot lasted around three weeks.

It means Mitchell is now just the second player from New Zealand to hold the top ranking for ODI batters, joining Kiwi great Glenn Turner who previously held the spot back in 1979.

Fellow New Zealanders Martin Crowe, Andrew Jones, Roger Twose, Nathan Astle, Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, and Ross Taylor all spent time inside the top five of the ODI batter rankings during their illustrious careers, but only Turner and now Mitchell have ever held the No.1 spot.

Ibrahim Zadran of Afghanistan also dropped down one place to third while Shubman Gill (4th), Virat Kohli (5th) and Shreyas Iyer (8th) are in top-10.

There were also big gains for a host of Pakistan players following their ODI series against Sri Lanka, with Mohammad Rizwan (up five places to equal 22nd) and Fakhar Zaman (up five rungs to equal 26th) making eye-catching improvements on the list for ODI batters.

Pakistan registered an impressive 3-0 series sweep during the three-match rubber against their Asian rival, with spinner Abrar Ahmed (up 11 places to ninth) and pacer Haris Rauf (up five spots to 23rd) being the big winners on the latest rankings for ODI bowlers that are still led by Afghanistan tweaker Rashid Khan.

Meanwhile, the completion of the opening Test between India and South Africa in Kolkata saw a host of players from both the sides climb the latest Test rankings for batters, with Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma moving to the top five for the first time in his career following his excellent hand of 55 not out in the second innings of the match.

India counterpart Shubman Gill rose two spots to 11th despite picking up an injury during the same match, while Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto moved up four places to equal 34th following his century in the first Test against Ireland in Sylhet.

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah held on to his spot as the No.1 Test bowler after six wickets during the first Test at Eden Gardens, with teammates Kuldeep Yadav (up two spots to a career-best 13th) and Ravindra Jadeja (up four places to 15th) among the players to make some inroads.

South Africa duo Marco Jansen (up one spot to 11th) and Simon Harmer (up 20 places to 24th) also rose in the list for Test bowlers following decent hauls against India.

Jansen also gained one place to move to fifth on the latest rankings for Test all-rounders.