Star batsman AB de Villiers has dealt a double blow to India. First, he helped South Africa dethrone India from the top position in ICC ODI Rankings table and today (October 20), he has replaced captain Virat Kohli as world's number one ODI batsman.
De Villiers, who was out of cricket for a long time due to injury, returned with a bang. He smashed a brilliant 176 off 104 balls against Bangladesh on Wednesday (October 18) to help Proteas seal the three-match series with an unbeatable 2-0 lead.
On Friday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) updated its ODI rankings and De Villiers has gained two places to be on top again.
Also read: Sehwag says sorry to De Villiers
Kohli has been pushed to second but will have a chance to reclaim the top rank as India face New Zealand in three ODIs from Sunday (October 22).
The 33-year-old De Villiers, who has leapfrogged Australian David Warner and Kohli, had first attained top position on 30 May 2010 and the number of days he has spent at the top is second most after retired Windies great Vivian Richards. De Villiers has now been at the top for 2,124 days while Richards was number one for 2,306 days, ICC said.
"Among bowlers, Hasan Ali's haul of five for 34 in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, which his team won by seven wickets for a decisive 3-0 lead in the five-match series, has given the pace bowler a big boost in ranking points.
"The 23-year-old, who has taken nine wickets in the series so far, has moved up six places to become the fifth bowler at the top of the ODI rankings this year after Trent Boult, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada and Josh Hazlewood.
"Outside of the top 20, Sri Lanka's Suranga Lakmal (up three places to 36th), South Africa's Andile Phehlukwayo (up 30 places to 52nd) and Bangladesh's Rubel Hossain (up seven places to 61st) are the other bowlers to move northwards," it added.
BREAKING: @ABdeVilliers17 and @RealHa55an move to the top of @MRFWorldwide ODI Rankings!https://t.co/mZH3or71W8 pic.twitter.com/ExDlUvGTEF
— ICC (@ICC) October 20, 2017
Among Indian batsmen, Rohit Sharma too slipped two places to be at seventh. Kohli and Rohit are the only two Indians in top-10 of ODI rankings for batsmen. Jasprit Bumrah (sixth) and Axar Patel (eighth) are the Indian bowlers in top-10.
