Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma Maintain Their Dominance In The ICC ODI Rankings; Steve Smith Breaks Into Top-20

Indian legendary duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have maintained their dominance in the latest ICC ODI rankings, retaining the No.1 and No.2 spot in the rankings for batsmen.

Virat Kohli, who for the first time since 2008, finished a calendar year without an ODI hundred has retained his numero-uno spot with 870 points.

Kohli did not have a great year in ODI cricket by his very high standards but he still finished with 431 runs in nine games at an average of 47.88 and a strike-rate of 92.29 with five half-centuries.

The Indian captain smashed two half-centuries in the recently-concluded ODI series against Australia. In the same series, Kohli added another feather to his cap as he leapfrogged Sachin Tendulkar to become the fastest to 12000 ODI runs.

Kohli achieved the feat in a mere 242 innings as compared to Sachin Tendulkar, who had achieved the same in 300 innings.

Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, might have played just three ODIs in 2020 but he has still managed to retain the 2nd spot in the rankings.

? One ?, two fifties
? 249 runs at 83

Australia captain Aaron Finch, who was the top run-scorer in the #AUSvIND ODIs, has moved into the top five in the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings ? pic.twitter.com/U2ZSH5fDCW

— ICC (@ICC) December 10, 2020

The Indian opener started off 2020 with a bang, smashing 171 runs in 3 ODIs against Australia at an average of 57 with one hundred. Rohit subsequently missed the next two ODI rubbers in New Zealand and Australia due to injury.

As far as other batsmen are concerned, Australian captain, Aaron Finch’s three consecutive 50+ scores against India has helped him achieve his career-best tally of 791 points and 5th place in the rankings.

Steve Smith’s twin 62-ball hundreds have helped him storm back into the top-20 of ODI rankings for the first time since 2018. Smith is currently in 15th place with 707 points.

Glenn Maxwell has also managed to break into the top-20 following his assault against the Indian bowlers in the recent series.

In the bowling department, leg-spinner Adam Zampa has moved to the 14th position with career-best 623 points. Jasprit Bumrah, on the other hand, has moved down to the 3rd spot following a difficult year in ODI cricket. Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman has moved to the 2nd spot.

Josh Hazlewood, who picked up six wickets at 30 during the #AUSvIND ODI series, has moved to No.6 in the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's ODI Bowling Rankings ?

FULL RANKINGS ➡️ https://t.co/lRP67a820b pic.twitter.com/5wZrViPhcU

— ICC (@ICC) December 10, 2020