Virat Kohli maintains top position in ODI rankings

England's Jonny Bairstow breaks into the top 10 following a string of good performances in limited-overs cricket.

India captain and top-order batsman, Virat Kohli. - REUTERS

India captain Virat Kohli maintained his top rank in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen.

England’s Jonny Bairstow broke into the top-10 following a string of good performances against Australia in the ODIs and T20s. Kohli (871 points) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (855 points, ranked two) are out of action for some time due to COVID-19 forced break but they have their positions intact.

Bairstow topped the series aggregate with 196 runs after his 126-ball 112 in the final match to re-enter the top 10. The previous best for the 30-year-old Yorkshire player was ninth position in October, 2018. He is now within 23 points of his career-best rating points of 777.

Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey after scoring centuries also made gains in the ranking charts.

Maxwell has moved up five places to take joint 26th position along with Paul Stirling of Ireland, after scoring 186 runs in the series, while Carey comes in next after his total of 152 runs elevated him 11 places to a career-best 28th position.

Wonderful Woakes

England all-rounder Chris Woakes advanced three places to a career-best fourth position after finishing with six wickets in the series. New Zealand’s Trent Boult and India’s Jasprit Bumrah are current occupying the top two slots.

Woakes is also second in the list of all-rounders after also notching 89 runs in the series. His compatriot Ben Stokes is among those he has overtaken to reach within 20 points of Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood returned to the top 10 for the first time in nearly two years, his player of the match performance of 3 for 34 in the first match the highlight of a four-wicket tally. He has moved up from 15th to eighth position.

Australia collected 20 points from its first series of the Super League, introduced to add context to bilateral ODI series. The top seven teams from the Super League and host India book direct spots for the 2023 World Cup.

England leads the points table but is the only team to have played two series, winning 2-1 at home against Ireland early on in the championship. India has managed to hold onto its second position.