De Villiers regains top spot in ICC ODI rankings
Dubai, Dec 12 (IANS) South Africa captain AB de Villiers has regained the number one rank in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen as he moved up one place thanks to some brilliant performances in the three-match series against India which ended Wednesday.
The latest rankings update were released Thursday, a day after the final match in the series was washed out to hand the home team a 2-0 series win.
The series win resulted in a number of South Africa players making a move in the right direction in both the batting and bowling lists.
Leading the way is de Villiers, who had started the series in second spot behind India’s Virat Kohli, trailing by 17 ratings points. But now the South African at 872 has not only regained the number one rank but has also opened up a 13 ratings points lead over Kohli who had a dismal series.
De Villiers, who scored 189 runs in three completed innings during the series was the second highest run-getter on either side with a top score of 109 in the final match.
De Villiers, who was named in both the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year in 2013, now heads both the Test and ODI batting tables. The right hand middle order batsman had also been shortlisted for the LG People’s Choice Award this year.
He is the third batsman from South Africa after Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla to head the Test and ODI batting tables at the same time, and the ninth player overall.
Amla, on the other hand, has moved up a place to third in the batting list.
South Africa’s Quinton de Kock has made the biggest gain in the latest rankings following his three successive hundreds in the series, jumping 61 places to a career best 14th with a best ever 672 ratings points.
The wicket keeper-batsman became only the fifth batsman in history to score three successive ODI hundreds, ending as the highest run-getter in the series with 342 runs.
Outside the top 20, the batsmen to move up include JP Duminy to 24th (up by three), David Miller to 45th (up by 12) and Ravindra Jadeja to 71st (up by one).
Meanwhile, South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has continued his upward move in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. Steyn has moved up three positions to second after claiming six wickets in the two ODIs that he played.
Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal continues to be the number one ranked bowler.
Outside the top 20, the bowlers to advance up the rankings include Mohammed Shami to 43rd (up by seven) and Ishant Sharma to 51st (up by 16).
Both South Africa and India retained their pre-series ranking in the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings table.
India dropped two ratings points owing to the 0-2 series loss to end at 120 ratings points but retained the number one slot, while South Africa continues to be in fifth place with 110 ratings points, with a gain of three points.
South Africa started the series with an opportunity to move up a place to fourth, ahead of Sri Lanka, but only if it swept the series 3-0. A washout in the final match meant that South Africa retained its pre-series fifth rank.