Ajit Karn
Australia’s Josh Hazlewood dethroned India’s Mohammed Siraj from the top position in the most recent ICC rankings for ODI bowlers on Wednesday, as Siraj from fell to third place. Mitchell Starc, another Australian pacer who excelled in the first two ODIs of the three-match series in India, joined Siraj at equal third. Siraj, who returned with impressive figures of 3/29 to help India win the first ODI against Australia, was costly in the second ODI, conceding 37 runs in three overs, and thus relinquished his position as the top-ranked bowler.
During the second one-day international in Visakhapatnam, the right-arm pacer bore the bulk of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head’s attacks. In January of this year, Siraj, who has been effective across formats in recent years, was crowned the world’s best ODI bowler.
Starc’s three wickets in Mumbai sparked Australia’s comeback, while his five wickets in the second one-day international in Visakhapatnam propelled the visitors to a 10-wicket victory.
Hazlewood, who missed the entire India tour consisting of four Tests and three ODIs, became the first-ever No. 1 ODI bowler in the globe.
“Hazlewood, whose career-best second position was achieved for the first time in June 2017 and which he has held since August 2022, is No. 1 in ODIs for the first time,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
Mohammad Shami, who produced a match-winning spell in Mumbai, moved up five positions to reach the 28th position on the rankings.
KL Rahul’s unbeaten 75, which helped India recoup from a sluggish start and win the first ODI by five wickets, moved him up three spots to the 39th position.
Shubman Gill, who made “marginal progress,” and Virat Kohler remained fifth and seventh, respectively, in the ODI batters’ classification, while captain Rohit Sharma moved up one spot to ninth.
Kane Williamson moved up to the second position among batters in Test cricket after his dominant performance against Sri Lanka. The former captain scored 1, 121 not out, and 215 runs in the two-match series, which New Zealand won 2-0.
With his sixth double-hundred in Tests, Williamson is now only one score behind Kohli (seven) for the most scores over 200.
Marnus Labuschagne of Australia remains the highest-ranked batsman in Test cricket.
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Henry Nicholls, the left-handed batsman for New Zealand who scored 200 not out in the Wellington Test and was involved in a tremendous 363-run stand with Kane Williamson in the 2,500th Test cricket match, moved up 20 positions to reach 27th.
The commander of Sri Lanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, occupies the tenth position.
