Indian batter Smriti Mandhana, who was awarded the Player of the Match for her outstanding performance of 100 off 122 in the third ODI against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, has managed to close the gap to Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu, who currently holds the third spot in the ICC Women's ODI player rankings.
The latest update of the ICC Women's ODI player rankings, released on Tuesday, shows Mandhana in the fourth spot. She has added 23 rating points to her tally, reaching a total of 728. This is just five points less than Athapaththu's score. The list is led by Natalie Sciver-Brunt of England, who has 760 rating points.
The top of the rankings is dominated by South African Laura Wolvaardt with 756 points and England's Nat Sciver-Brunt with 760 points. These players have consistently shown their prowess on the field, maintaining their positions at the top of the rankings.
India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur has made a comeback into the top 10 in the batter's list. This comes after her unbeaten 59 in the final match of their ICC Women's Championship series in Ahmedabad. Kaur, who had slipped three slots after the first two matches, has now grabbed the joint-ninth spot. She shares this position with New Zealand's Sophie Devine, both having 654 rating points.
The bowling rankings have also seen some interesting changes. Deepti Sharma, with her commendable performance in the day-night match, has gained important rating points in the ODI bowling rankings. Her efforts were instrumental in helping India clinch the series 2-1. Sharma has now attained a career-high 703 rating points, which is 17 points clear from England's Kate Cross who has 686 points. However, Sophie Ecclestone remains well clear in the top spot with 770 points.
Other notable ranking moves in the bowler's list include Renuka Singh moving up four places to be on 32nd, Saima Thakor moving up 20 places to joint-77th, and Priya Mishra moving up six places to 83rd. These players have shown great progress, contributing to the overall performance of the team.
Lea Tahuhu's late charge with the bat in the match, scoring 24 not out off 14 balls, was enough for a five-spot jump in the ODI all-rounder rankings. She has moved up to 27th position with 126 ranking points.
These developments in the ICC Women's ODI player rankings are reminiscent of similar historical events in cricket. For instance, in 2017, Mithali Raj, another Indian cricketer, had made headlines when she became the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket and the only female cricketer to surpass the 6,000 run mark in ODIs during the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup.
The latest ICC Women's ODI player rankings have brought some exciting changes and developments. Indian players, in particular, have shown improvement, with Smriti Mandhana closing the gap to the third place and Harmanpreet Kaur making a comeback into the top 10. As the cricketing season progresses, it will be interesting to see how these rankings evolve and which players manage to climb up the ladder.
