ICC ODI rankings: Kohli, Rohit top batting positions; Bumrah leads bowlers pack Kohli greatest ODI player of all-time, Rohit in top-5: Finch Simmons hits 10 sixes as Windies level series against Ireland

DUBAI: India captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma consolidated their top two positions in the batting chart, while pace ace Jasprit Bumrah continued to lead among bowlers in the ICC ODI Rankings issued on Monday.

Following their stellar performances against Australia in the just-concluded series, which India won 2-1, Kohli (No.1) and Rohit (No.2) have strengthened their positions.

With 183 runs under his belt against Australia, Kohli was the player-of-the-series while Rohit was a close second, garnering 171 runs in the rubber, including a match-winning 119 in the deciding ODI in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Kohli (886 points) and Rohit (868 points) have gained two and three ratings points, respectively to occupy the top two positions in the batting rankings. Pakistan’s Babar Azam is in third position with 829 points, the ICC said in a statement.

Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan has also gained seven slots to reach 15th position with 170 runs in two innings, missing a chance to bat in Bengaluru after injuring his shoulder while fielding.

K L Rahul, who opened in his place in the final ODI, has gained 21 slots to reach 50th position with an aggregate of 146 runs.

Bumrah, who returned from injury in the Australia series, is atop the bowlers chart with 764 points, ahead of New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult and Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman. South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Australian Pat Cummins complete the top five.

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has moved up two slots to be 27th among bowlers after finishing with four wickets in the series.

He also scored 45 runs in two innings and has gained four places in the all-rounders’ list to be ranked 10th.

Australian Steve Smith, who topped the series with an aggregate of 229 runs including a knock of 131 in the final ODI, has been rewarded with a fourplace jump to 23rd position.

David Warner, a formerly top-ranked batsman in the format, has also moved up one place to sixth while captain Aaron Finch has moved up one place into 10th. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey is in 31st position after gaining two slots.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa’s five wickets in the series saw him advance 20 places to reach 37th position, while Kane Richardson has moved from 77th to 65th.

BENGALURU: Australian captain Aaron Finch has rated his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli as “probably” the greatest ODI player of all-time, while picking Rohit Sharma in the top-five.

Rohit (119) scored his 29th ODI hundred and Kohli made 89 off 91 balls as they shared a match-winning stand of 137 in the decisive third game against Australia here on Sunday.

For Finch, what stood out was that India overhauled the 287-run target with ease despite opener Shikhar Dhawan not coming out to bat due to a shoulder injury.

“They’ve got Virat who is probably the greatest ODI player of all-time, and Rohit who’d probably be in the top five batters of all-time. They’re exceptional, and the thing with the Indian side at the moment is their experienced players are getting the job done in the big games,” Finch said.

“Rohit’s 100, especially without Shikhar there tonight, for them to shuffle and their two most dominant players to still get majority of the runs is a sign of a really settled and really quality top-order,” said Finch at the post-match media interaction on Sunday night.

Australia could not get the final flourish they were looking for, mustering only 63 runs in the last 10 overs at the loss of five wickets, far too many in Finch’s view.

“In the last two games we have had the bowlers batting for the majority of the last few overs. Which we saw in Rajkot the damage that KL (Rahul) could do in the back end because he was a settled batter. I think that’s an area we just missed a couple of tricks. “Just not having an in batter being in and having faced 20 or 30 balls to get us deeper and get us to the back end,” Finch said.

BASSETERRE (Saint Kitts and Nevis): Opening batsman Lendl Simmons blasted 10 sixes in an undefeated 91 as West Indies routed Ireland by nine wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International at Warner Park here on Sunday.

Simmons, the nephew of West Indies coach Phil Simmons, also hit five boundaries in his 40-ball blitz. It was his highest score in the format and came just five days before his 35th birthday.

Chasing a modest 139 to win, Simmons won the match in style with a six over midwicket off spinner Simi Singh whose three overs cost 41 runs.

Fellow opener Evin Lewis made 46 with four boundaries and three sixes as West Indies raced to victory with 54 balls remaining.