Race for No.1 ODI batting spot heats up

A change in personnel worked wonders for India as they finally managed to end their losing streak in the recent weeks with a win over England. India had handed Ireland a historic 2-0 T20I series win, before going on to lose 4-0 to England, also in the T20I format.

However, as the focus shifted to ODI cricket, the side was boosted by return of Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. 

While Bumrah took the early focus with a stellar bowling spell, finishing with 1/31, and Rohit and Kohli were left wanting on a wicket that had some help for the bowlers, it was India skipper Gill who led the side's charge and made significant gains in the process.

Before he retired hurt at 80* off 75 balls, Gill had smacked 11 fours and a six to set India well on track for their chase against England. This means an increase in 12 rating points for Gill, and the batter is now merely 11 rating points away from Daryl Mitchell, who holds the top spot in the ODI Batting Rankings.

Mitchell had 93 runs from the first two games of the ODI series against West Indies, and the stage is set for the two batters to challenge each other for the top spot.

Bumrah's stellar return that added a sting to India's bowling sees him back at 24th spot in the Bowling Rankings.

India's good progress in the game was hindered when they lost a flurry of wickets after Gill was forced to retire hurt closer to mid-innings mark in the second innings. 

However, Axar Patel (57* off 52) and Washington Sundar (52* off 63) saw the hosts through. For Axar, this was also a follow-up to his 4/62 in the first innings, and won him the Player of the Match honours.

The spin bowling all-rounder gained 18 spots in the Batting Rankings to sit at 73, and he gains two spots in the Bowling Rankings to sit at 42. But his most prolific gain is in the ICC Men's ODI All-Rounder Rankings, where he enters into the top 10 with this effort, and now sits in the ninth spot. Sundar also gained 24 spots in the Batting Rankings (177th position) and 16 spots in the All-Rounder Rankings (55th spot).

England's batting genius Joe Root was also among runs, and reached an equal 12th spot in the Men's ODI Batting Rankings following a 76 off 76 balls.

Similarly, Liam Dawson's feisty 68 also earned him a promotion by 81 spots. He sits at the 262nd spot in the Batting Rankings.

The recent outcomes in the ongoing ODI series between West Indies and New Zealand in the Caribbean also had an impact on the rankings charts.

Jayden Lennox delivered a career-best performance of 5/19 as the Black Caps managed to win the second ODI and make the series scoreline 1-1 with three games to go. He gained 31 spots in the Bowling Rankings and sits at the 66th place alongwith Sri Lanka's Dilshan Madushanka. 

West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph also gained six spots for his five scalps from two games, and now sits at the 36th place in the ODI Bowling Rankings. 

Shai Hope's 87* in West Indies win in the first game helped him gain a spot and the batter now sits at the sixth place in the ODI Batting Rankings. Keacy Carty who scored 113 runs over the two games also gains five spots and enters top 20.

From the recently concluded Zimbabwe-Bangladesh series in Africa, Ben Curran gained big, jumping 31 spots to sit at the 34th place in the ODI Batting Rankings. 

Brad Evans was the Player of the Series for his all-round heroics, with 111 runs and five wickets to his name. He gained 148 spots to reach equal 167th in the ODI Batting Rankings, four spots to reach 107th in the ODI Bowling Rankings, and 82 spots to reach the equal 90th in the ODI All-Rounder Rankings.

Last week also saw the conclusion of the T20I series between England and India, which was a comfortable win for the hosts.

Skipper Harry Brook jumped 12 places and now sits at the seventh spot in the ICC Men's T20I Batting Rankings following a Player of the Series performance, wherein he added 229 runs over five games. This included a 95* off 45 in the final T20I. Jos Buttler scored a career-best 131 in the same game, and gained a spot to sit at the sixth place.

On the other hand, Jofra Archer gained eight spots and now sits at equal 18th in the ICC Men's T20I Bowling Rankings, following his seven scalps from four T20Is in the series.