Virat Kohli dethrones Rohit to reclaim No. 1 ODI batter ranking after 2021

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli has been rewarded for his recent heroics in ODI matches for the men in blue as, in the latest ICC ODI rankings released on Wednesday, he dethroned his countryman Rohit Sharma to become the No. 1 batter in the ICC ODI rankings for the first time since 2021.

 

Kohli now leads the batting rankings with 785 rating points to his name. New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, with 784 rating points, is now No. 2 on the list, while Rohit, with 775 rating points, has moved down to the No. 3 spot. Indian skipper Shubman Gill, with 725 rating points, has retained his No. 5 spot, while returning Shreyas Iyer, with 682 rating points at No. 10, is the other Indian batter in the top 10 rankings.

 

ICC ODI batter’s rankings:

Position	Team	Player	Rating
1	India	Virat Kohli	785
2	New Zealand	Daryl Mitchell	784
3	India	Rohit Sharma	775
4	Afghanistan	Ibrahim Zadran	764
5	India	Shubman Gill	725
6	Pakistan	Babar Azam	722
7	Ireland	Harry Tector	708
8	West Indies	Shai Hope	701
9	Sri Lanka	Charith Asalanka	690
10	India	Shreyas Iyer	682

  Check India vs New Zealand second ODI match live score and updates here

Kohli’s return to the top

Virat Kohli climbed back to No. 1 after a match-winning 93 off 91 balls against New Zealand in Vadodara on Sunday during the first ODI match. The innings proved decisive in the rankings reshuffle, pushing him ahead of Rohit and underlining his consistency in the 50-over format.

 

This is the 11th time Kohli has held the top ODI batting ranking. He first reached the summit in October 2013 and has now spent a cumulative 825 days at No. 1, the most by any Indian batter. Overall, he sits 10th on the all-time list, led by West Indies great Vivian Richards.

Kohli–Rohit recent form

Kohli’s rise has been built on a strong run of scores across formats and conditions. He struck 135, 102 and 65 not out during the home ODI series against South Africa in November–December, and followed it up with a fluent 74 not out against Australia in Sydney in October.

 

Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, slipped to second despite maintaining solid form, highlighting how narrow the margins are at the top. With just 10 rating points separating the top three batters, the battle for No. 1 remains wide open.

Other ODI ranking movements

New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell has also overtaken Rohit to move up the list after scores of 84 in the same series. Among Indian players, K.L. Rahul climbed one place to 11th, while New Zealand’s Devon Conway jumped three spots to 29th.

 

In the bowling rankings, Mohammad Siraj made notable progress, moving up five places to 15th, while Kyle Jamieson surged 27 places to reach 69th following his recent performances.