AB de Villiers reclaims No. 1 rank for batsmen in ODIs

South Africa batsman AB de Villiers has once again grabbed the top position in the ICC ODI Player Rankings while Pakistan’s Hasan Ali has emerged as a new number one among bowlers in the latest ranking updates carried out on Friday.

An astonishing knock of 176 by de Villiers in the second ODI against Bangladesh in Paarl, which consisted of 15 fours and seven sixes and came off only 104 balls, has also helped South Africa edge India at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings by taking a 2-0 winning lead in the three-match series.

The latest rankings, which take into account the first two matches of the South Africa-Bangladesh series and the first three matches of the ongoing Pakistan-Sri Lanka series in the United Arab Emirates, sees de Villiers climb to the top of the ODI table for the 14th time in his career.

De Villiers, who has leapfrogged Australian David Warner and India captain Virat Kohli, had first attained top position on 30 May 2010 and the number of days he has spent at the top is second most after retired Windies great Vivian Richards. De Villiers has now been at the top for 2,124 days while Richards was number one for 2,306 days.

Babar, Amla climb up

Other batsmen to move up include Pakistan’s Babar Azam (up two places to a career-best fourth position), the South African pair of Quinton de Kock (up three places to fifth), Hashim Amla (up two places to ninth), and Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim (up five places to 18th).

ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 20 October, after the first three matches of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series and the first two matches of the South Africa-Bangladesh series):

BATTING (top 20)

Rank      (+/-)       Player                   Team     Points    Avg      Highest Rating

1           (+2)         AB de Villiers        SA           879        54.25      902 v NZ at Auckland 2015

2           (-1)          Virat Kohli             Ind          877        55.13      887 v Aus at Kolkata 2017

3           (-1)          David Warner        Aus         865        44.94      880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017

4           (+2)         Babar Azam          Pak         833*!     56.30      833 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2017

5=        (+3)         de Kock                  SA           802        45.52      805 v Ban at Kimberly 2017

5=         (-1)          Joe Root                Eng         802        50.00      808 v Win at Bristol 2017

7           (-2)          Rohit Sharma       Ind          790!       44.03      790 v Aus at Nagpur 2017

8           (-1)          Kane Williamson NZ           779        46.98      798 v SA at Centurion 2015

9           (+2)         Hashim Amla       SA           770        51.25      901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

10         (-1)          Faf du Plessis      SA           754        42.96      791 v SL at Cape Town 2017

11         (-1)          Martin Guptill        NZ           749        43.30      789 v SA at Hamilton 2017

12         ( – )          MS Dhoni              Ind          738        51.90      836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

13         ( – )          Steve Smith          Aus         728        43.23      752 v Pak at Sydney 2017

14         ( – )          Shikhar Dhawan  Ind          715        44.45      794 v SA at Melbourne 2015

15         ( – )          Ross Taylor           NZ           707        44.12      743 v Zim at Harare 2015

16         ( – )          Tamim Iqbal         Ban         680        34.32      688 v Aus at The Oval 2017

17         ( – )          Aaron Finch          Aus         674        36.56      743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015

18         (+5)         Mushfiqur Rahim Ban         667        33.10      671 v Zim at Mirpur 2015

19         (-1)          Alex Hales            Eng         660        37.89      705 v NZ at Cardiff 2017

20         (-1)          Eoin Morgan         Eng         650        38.16      690 v Aus at The Oval 2010