Three consecutive fifties in the three-match ODI series against England have helped India captain Mithali Raj climb to the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings. This is the eighth time in her 22-year-long career that the 39-year-old has managed this feat, the last time she did so being in 2018.
Raj started the tour on eighth position. A little over a week ago, she broke into the top five of the rankings again after making 72 in the series opener against England in Bristol. She finished with 206 runs in three games.
The first time she reached the number one position was in April 2005 after scoring an unbeaten 91 against New Zealand at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in Potchefstroom and the difference of more than 16 years at No.1 is the largest for any woman batter.
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England's Janette Brittin was number one for the first time in 1984 and the last time in 1995, while New Zealand's Debbie Hockley is the only other female batter to have been No.1 more than 10 years apart -- first achieving the feat in 1987 and for the final time in 1997.
Meanwhile, Shafali Verma gained 49 places to reach 71st position. Jhulan Goswami jumped four places to 53rd in the bowling standings while Deepti Sharma moved up a place to 12th.
For England, opener Lauren Winfield-Hill has advanced 14 places to 41st position with scores of 42 and 36 while Sophia Dunkley has soared 80 places to 76th after scoring 73 not out and 28. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone continues her ascent, gaining four places to reach a career-best sixth position among bowlers after returns of three for 33 and two for 36. Kate Cross's haul of five for 34 in the second match of the series is instrumental in seeing her advance from 25th to 18th position. Nat Sciver and Sarah Glenn have both moved up one place to reach 22nd and 43rd positions, respectively.
Nida Dar advances in T20I rankings
Pakistan spinner Nida Dar, who became the first from her country to the milestone of 100 T20I wickets, has gained six spots to reach 15th position after finishing with four wickets in a three-match series against the West Indies. For the West Indies, Shamilia Cornell has moved up 14 slots to 27th place while captain Stafanie Taylor has advanced 10 places to reach 42nd position after claiming a hat-trick and finishing with four for 17 in the last match. Fatima Sana is up 85 places to 94th.Among batters, Chedean Nation has progressed 17 places to 61st and Kycia Knight 20 places to 71st.
(With inputs from ANI)
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