India ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill closed in on the No.1 spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings on Wednesday, February 12. Shubman, who has been in a rich vein of form in the ODI series against England, closed in on Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who holds the top spot with 786 points. Gill rose one spot and displaced India captain Rohit Sharma from the No.2 spot and now has 781 points to his name.
Shreyas Iyer was the latest entrant in the top 10 list after his rapid half-century against England. Shreyas joined Shubman, Rohit, and Virat Kohli in the top 10 in the ICC ODI batting rankings.
Iyer’s rise comes on the back of a 30-ball fifty that he scored in the first ODI match against England. Iyer’s innings helped India break the shackles in Nagpur after a poor start by India’s openers. Iyer, who was not originally in India’s plans for the ODI series, forced his way into the team in the No.4 spot.
On the other hand, India captain Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli were the only two players to have gone down in the rankings. While Rohit came down one spot to No.3, Virat slipped to No.6 after losing 2 spots.
Sharma did have a sensational outing in the 2nd ODI vs England where he scored a hundred in just 76 balls. He was displaced by Gill, who has been more consistent than the batter. Kohli on the other hand slipped down two spots due to the rise of Ireland’s Harry Tector, who played his last ODI game in October 2024, where he had scored 60 off 48 balls, helping Ireland clinch a famous victory over the Proteas.
