Dubai, December 3. Star Indian batter Virat Kohli has climbed to the fourth position in the latest International Cricket Council ODI batting rankings released on Wednesday following his match-winning century in the first One Day International against South Africa in Ranchi.
Kohli played an innings of 135 runs off 120 balls against South Africa on Sunday, which was his 52nd century in the 50-over format. His innings helped India secure a victory by 17 runs. As per agency report, the 37-year-old Kohli now has 751 ranking points. He remains behind former Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who retains the top spot with 783 points, New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell with 766 points, and Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran with 764 points.
Kohli surpassed India's ODI captain Shubman Gill, who slipped to the fifth position as he is out of the current three-match series against South Africa due to a neck injury. Shreyas Iyer, who is recovering from an injury sustained during India's limited-overs tour of Australia, remains in the ninth position. In the list of bowlers, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up one place to the sixth spot after taking four wickets in the first match against South Africa.
In the list of Test batters, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal remains in the ninth position, while Gill dropped one place to the 12th spot. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant also slipped from the 12th to the 14th position. Among Test bowlers, India's top pacer Jasprit Bumrah retains the top spot with 879 points. He holds a 33-point lead over New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry, who has 846 points.
Following a weak performance in the two-match Test series against South Africa, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj slipped from the 11th to the 13th position, while Kuldeep dropped from the 13th to the 15th spot. In the T20 International rankings, India's Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy have maintained their top positions in the batting and bowling rankings respectively.
