Virat Kohli and his limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma will end the year as the top two batsmen in the ICC ODI rankings which was released on Monday, after maintaining their places following a series win against West Indies.
The 32-year-old Indian captain scored 2455 runs across formats this calendar year, with his latest showing being a match-defining 85-run knock against West Indies in the series decider in Cuttack on Sunday. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s 22-year-old record for most runs in a calendar year by an opener across formats to become second in the rankings.
Coming into the third and final ODI against the West Indies here, Rohit was only nine short of eclipsing the former Sri Lankan legend, who tallied 2387 runs in 1997. The Mumbai-born opener scored 63 on Sunday, and aggregated 2442 runs at the close of the year.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, have made notable gains in the rankings, as they have both moved from 88th to 71st, and 104th to 81st respectively. West Indies opener Shai Hope has entered the top 10 after showing fine form in the three-match series in India.
The wicketkeeper-batsman has gained five places to reach the ninth position after scoring 222 runs in the series, including an unbeaten 102 in the opening match in Chennai, which his side won before going down in Visakhapatnam and Cuttack.
Also moving up in the batting rankings are his teammates Shimron Hetmyer (up six places to 19th) and Nicholas Pooran (up 33 places to 30th). Fast bowlers Sheldon Cottrell (up six places to 30th) and Keemo Paul (up 35 places to 104th) have also gained in the latest rankings update.
(with PTI inputs)
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