Virat Kohli achieves number one rankings

Kohli had entered the tournament 22 points behind number-one ranked AB de Villiers of South Africa (who had been No.1 since 25 February 2017) and 19 points behind Australia’s David Warner. However, following knocks of 81 not out against Pakistan and 76 not out against South Africa, he has leapfrogged de Villiers and Warner into the number-spot.

Kohli, who is ahead of Warner by just one point, had enjoyed just four days at the top in January 2017, but will now be aiming to do better when he faces Bangladesh in the second semi-final at Edgbaston on Thursday.

India’s opener Shikhar Dhawan has continued his love-affair with the ICC Champions Trophy by returning into the top 10. The left-hander has vaulted five places to 10th following scores of 68 against Pakistan, 125 against Sri Lanka and 78 against South Africa.

Dhawan’s rise means his team-mates Rohit Sharma and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have slipped one place each to 13th and 14th, respectively, while Yuvraj Singh has gained six places and is now in 88th spot.

Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has led the charge of India’s bowlers by vaulting 13 places to share 23rd spot with Afghanistan’s Hamza Hotak. Umesh Yadav has gained two places and is now 41st, while Jasprit Bumrah is 43rd after rising three places.

However, India’s spinners have slipped in the latest rankings with Ravichandran Ashwin dropping two places to 20th and Ravindra Jadeja falling three places to 29th.

England’s impressive form in the ICC Champions Trophy is reflected in the latest player rankings.

Amongst the batsmen, Joe Root has moved up one place to fourth and Ben Stokes has rocketed nine places to a career-high 20th place, whereas amongst the bowlers, Liam Plunkett has jumped seven places to a career-best ninth spot, Adil Rashid has shot up nine places to 11th spot, Mark Wood has risen 35 places to a career-high 39th position and Jake Ball is now ranked 53rd after gaining 25 places.

Eoin Morgan has slipped one place to 18th and Jos Buttler has dropped two places to 19th following Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal’s rise from 19th to 17th in the latest rankings.

Apart from Tamim, wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has retained his 21st spot, Shakib Al Hasan has moved up one place to 30th and Mahmudullah has climbed six places to 37th position.

In contrast, Bangladesh bowlers have headed in the opposite direction with Shakib plummeting seven places to 16th, Mashrafe Mortaza slipping four places to 18th, Mustafizur Rahman sliding six places to 21st, Rubel Hossain finishing in 60th place after dropping four places and Taskin Ahmed falling one place to 63rd.

Pakistan, which takes on England in the first semi-final in Cardiff on Tuesday, also has something to celebrate in the latest rankings.

Its gutsy wicketkeeper-batsman and captain Sarfraz Ahmed has jumped five places to claim 31st ranking in the batting table, fast bowler Hassan Ali has stormed to a career-best 19th rank after vaulting 16 places, Imad Wasim has gained eight places to occupy 31st spot and Mohammad Amir has earned one spot and is now 37th.

Pakistan’s batsmen slide in the rankings include Babar Azam (eighth, down by one place), Mohammad Hafeez (22nd, down by two places), Azhar Ali (42nd, down by two) and Shoaib Malik (48th, down by one).

World champion Australia’s only consolation in the latest player rankings is that its fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has claimed the coveted number-one position for the first time in his career.

Hazlewood is currently the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with nine wickets in three matches, including six for 52 against New Zealand in a game which was abandoned due to rain.

Hazlewood, who is the first Australia bowler to top the bowling charts since October 2015 when Mitchell Starc peaked to the top, has leapfrogged Imran Tahir, Starc and Kagiso Rabada.

There is no change in the top five of the all-rounders’ list, which is headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan. However, Stokes has gained one spot and is now sixth, while Jadeja has broken into the top 10 in eighth position after rising three places.

Away from the ICC Champions Trophy, West Indies and Afghanistan are involved in a three-match ODI series, which is presently locked at one-all. Following Afghanistan’s shocking win in the opening match, wrist spinner Rashid Khan has rocketed 18 places to seventh place after claiming seven for 18.

The defeat in St Lucia on 9 June has severely dented ninth-ranked the West Indies as it has dropped from 79 points to 77 points in the MRF Tyes ICC ODI Team Rankings. Even if it wins the series-decider on 14 June, it will finish on 78 points, which is not good news considering 30 September is the cut-off date for automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

As England plus the next seven highest-ranked sides as on 30 September will qualify directly, the West Indies’ 9 June loss plus Pakistan’s victories against highest-ranked South Africa and Sri Lanka means Pakistan is now ahead of the West Indies by 14 points.

Meanwhile, there is no change in the rankings of the top three sides following 12 matches in the ICC Champions Trophy, though number-one ranked South Africa has dropped three points and second-ranked Australia has conceded one point.

However, England has swapped places with New Zealand and is now ranked fourth, three points ahead of the Black Caps.

In the upcoming matches, India will have a chance to top the table. But for that to happen, it will not only want to face England in the final but also need to retain the title. In this scenario, Kohli’s side will join South Africa on 119 points but will be ranked ahead of the Proteas by a fraction of a point.

The following are various permutations for the upcoming matches in the ICC Champions Trophy:

INDIA

·       If loses to Bangladesh in the semi-final, it will finish on 115 points

·       If beats Pakistan in the final, it will finish second on 119 points

·       If loses to Pakistan in the final, it will finish on 116 points

·       If beats England in the final, it will finish on top of the table on 119 points

·       If loses to England in the final, it will finish on 116 points

ENGLAND

·       If loses to Pakistan in the semi-final, it will finish on 113 points

·       If beats Bangladesh in the final, it will finish on 116 points

·       If loses to Bangladesh in the final, it will finish on 114 points

·       If beats India in the final, it will finish on 116 points

·       If loses to India in the final, it will finish on 114 points

BANGLADESH

·       If loses to India in the semi-final, it will finish on 94 points

·       If beats England in the final, it will finish on 99 points

·       If loses to England in the final, it will finish on 96 points

·       If beats Pakistan in the final, it will finish on 98 points

·       If loses to Pakistan in the final, it will finish on 95 points

PAKISTAN

·       If loses to England in the semi-final, it will finish on 90 points

·       If beats India in the final, it will finish on 95 points

·       If loses to India in the final, it will finish on 92 points

·       If beats Bangladesh in the final, it will finish on 94 points

·       If loses to Bangladesh in the final, it will finish on 92 points

Upcoming matches:

14 June – England v Pakistan, Cardiff

14 June – West Indies v Afghanistan, St Lucia

15 June – Bangladesh v India, Edgbaston

18 June – ICC Champions Trophy final, The Oval

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 13 June, after group stage matches in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and second ODI between the West Indies and Afghanistan)

Rank    Team                Points

1          South Africa      119 (-3)

2          Australia           117 (-1)

3          India                 117 (-)

4          England            114 (+2)

5          New Zealand     111 (-3)

6          Bangladesh       95 (+2)

7          Sri Lanka          93 (-)

8          Pakistan           91 (+3)

9          West Indies       77 (-2)

10        Afghanistan       54 (+2)

11        Zimbabwe         46

12        Ireland              41

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 13 June, after group stage matches in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and second ODI between the West Indies and Afghanistan)

Top 30 batsmen

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

   1         (+2)        Virat Kohli            Ind         862       53.82    886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014

   2         ( - )         David Warner       Aus        861       44.72    880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017

   3         (-2)         AB de Villiers       SA          847       53.55    902 v NZ at Auckland 2015

   4         (+1)        Joe Root              Eng        798       49.42    806 v NZ at Cardiff 2017

   5         (+4)        Kane Williamson  NZ          779       46.98    798 v SA at Centurion 2015

   6         (-2)         Quinton de Kock  SA          769       43.44    803 v NZ at Wellington 2017

   7         (-1)         Faf du Plessis      SA          768        43.41    791 v SL at Cape Town 2017

   8         (-1)         Babar Azam         Pak        763*      52.73    773 v SA at Edgbaston 2017

   9         (-2)         Martin Guptill        NZ          749        43.30    789 v SA at Hamilton 2017

  10        (+5)        Shikhar Dhawan  Ind         746        44.81    794 v SA at Melbourne 2015

  11        (-1)         Hashim Amla       SA          741        50.25    901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

  12        (-1)         Steve Smith         Aus        740        44.26    752 v Pak at Sydney 2017

  13        (-1)         Rohit Sharma       Ind         728        41.82    761 v Aus at Sydney 2016

  14        (-1)         MS Dhoni             Ind         716        51.02    836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

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

  16        ( - )         Alex Hales            Eng        688        38.67    705 v NZ at Cardiff 2017

  17        (+2)        Tamim Iqbal         Ban        678        34.17    688 v Aus at The Oval 2017

  18        (-1)         Eoin Morgan        Eng        676        38.77    690 v Aus at The Oval 2010

  19        (-2)         Jos Buttler            Eng        665        37.78    723 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

  20        (+9)        Ben Stokes          Eng        636!      33.77    636 v Aus at Edgbaston 2017

  21        ( - )         Mushfiqur Rahim  Ban        627        31.88    671 v Zim at Mirpur 2015

  22=      ( - )         George Bailey      Aus        620        40.58    867 v SA at Harare 2014

              (-2)         M. Hafeez            Pak        620        32.51    665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

  24        (-1)         Glenn Maxwell     Aus        619        32.95    735 v Ind at Canberra 2016

  25        (-1)         Aaron Finch         Aus        617        34.74    743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015

  26        ( - )         Angelo Mathews  SL          613        40.55    707 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014

  27        (+8)        Kusal Mendis       SL          610*!     37.38    610 v Pak at Cardiff 2017

  28        (-2)         David Miller          SA          609        39.27    632 v Ban at Mirpur 2015

  29        (+8)        Travis Head         Aus        606*!     40.75    606 v Eng at Edgbaston 2017

  30        (+1)        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        603        34.98    683 v Pak at Mirpur 2012

Top 30 bowlers

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Eco.       Highest Rating

   1         (+4)        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        732!      23.85    4.69      732 v Eng at Edgbaston 2017

   2         ( - )         Imran Tahir          SA          718        23.87    4.66      786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

   3         ( - )         Mitchell Starc       Aus        701        20.13    4.81      783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

   4         (-3)         Kagiso Rabada    SA          685        26.30    5.11      724 v Eng at Lord's 2017

   5         (-1)         Sunil Narine         WI          683        26.46    4.12      791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

   6         ( - )         Trent Boult           NZ          665        25.48    5.00      766 v Ind at Delhi 2016

   7         (+18)      Rashid Khan        Afg         647*!     14.74    3.97      647 v WI at St Lucia 2017

   8         (-1)         Chris Woakes      Eng        630        31.60    5.58      651 v SA at Headingley 2017

   9         (+7)        Liam Plunkett       Eng        624*      30.15    5.75      634 v NZ at Cardiff 2017

  10        (-2)         Mohammad Nabi Afg         618        32.74    4.29      653 v Zim at Harare 2017

  11        (+9)        Adil Rashid           Eng        614        32.43    5.61      655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

  12        (-2)         Mitchell Santner   NZ          610*      33.77    4.99      617 v Ban at Dublin 2017

  13=      (-2)         Matt Henry           NZ          606        25.26    5.62      675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016

              (-2)         Akshar Patel        Ind         606*      30.20    4.38      624 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016

  15        (-2)         Amit Mishra          Ind         600*      23.60    4.72      618 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016

  16        (-7)         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        599        29.25    4.40      717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

  17        (+4)        Morne Morkel       SA          596        24.48    4.94      717 v SL at East London 2012

  18        (-4)         M. Mortaza           Ban        591        30.54    4.75      653 v Zim at Mirpur 2009

  19        (+16)      Hasan Ali             Pak        589*!     24.94    5.70      589 v SL at Cardiff 2017

  20        (-2)         R. Ashwin             Ind         572        32.45    4.91      691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

  21=      (-3)         Dale Steyn           SA          570        26.62    4.94      746 v Ind at Durban 2013

              (-6)         M. Rahman          Ban        570*      18.59    4.76      600 v NZ at Dublin 2017

  23=      (+4)        Hamza Hotak       Afg         567*      25.40    3.92      571 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017

              (+13)      B. Kumar              Ind         567        38.72    4.93      657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

  25=      (-8)         Jason Holder        WI          566        32.96    5.43      605 v SL at Bulawayo 2016

              (-4)         Mohammad Irfan  Pak        566        30.71    4.91      641 v UAE at Napier 2015

  27        (-4)         James Faulkner   Aus        564        30.08    5.50      594 v Pak at Melbourne 2017

  28        (+1)        Pat Cummins       Aus        563*      27.30    5.54      575 v Ban at The Oval 2017

  29        (-3)         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         561        34.87    4.89      738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013

  30        (-6)         Suranga Lakmal   SL          551        30.47    5.50      563 v Ban at Colombo (SSC) 2017

Top 10 all-rounders

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Highest Rating

   1         ( - )         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        361       453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   2         ( - )         M Hafeez             Pak        339       438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   3         ( - )         Mohammad Nabi Afg         329       349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017

   4         ( - )         Angelo Mathews  SL          306       427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014

   5         ( - )         James Faulkner   Aus        299       361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

   6         (+1)        Ben Stokes          Eng        288!      288 v Aus at Edgbaston 2017

   7         (-1)         Mitchell Marsh      Aus        273 /*    322 v NZ at Canberra 2016

   8         (+3)        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         254       378 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013

   9         ( - )         Chris Woakes      Eng        253       267 v SA at Headingley 2017

  10        (-2)         Jason Holder        WI          252       269 v Pak at Guyana 2017