De Villiers regains top spot in ICC rankings

Virat Kohli has been dethroned as the top ODI batsman in the world by South Africa’s AB De Villiers after the Proteas claimed the top spot in the latest ICC ODI batsman rankings on Friday.

De Villiers’s 262 runs in the series, including a highest of 85 in the third ODI at Wellington, have helped him overtake Virat Kohli and Australia opener David Warner at the top of the ladder, reclaiming the top spot within two months of losing it to the Indian cricket team captain.

De Villiers is currently four points ahead of Warner and 23 ahead of Virat Kohli. It is for the 10th time that the 33-year-old de Villiers is at the top of the rankings since first taking the spot in May 2010. He has never been ranked outside the top five since September 2009.

The England duo of Alex Hales and Joe Root were also among the major gainers in the batsman list as they reached career-best rankings after an impressive show against West Indies. Root reached the fourth spot after scoring 195 runs in three matches while Hales gained four sports to reach 16th position.

In the bowler’s list, Kagiso Rabada broke into the top five for the first time in his career while his compatriot Imran Tahir continued his domination at the top. Rabada leapfrogged Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan to reach the fifth position.

England all-rounder Chris Woakes’s seven wickets against the West Indies see him break into the top 10 for the first time as he has moved up nine places to ninth slot while his team-mate Liam Plunkett’s 10 wickets in the series have helped him move up 36 places to 23rd rank.

In the team rankings, West Indies’ task of qualifying directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 became tougher as a 3-0 loss to England kept them in the ninth position.

Source: ESPN Cricinfo