ICC ODI Players Rankings: AB de Villiers enters World Cup as top-ranked batsman
Despite Australia being the top-ranked side in the world in ODIs, their dominance isn’t reflected in the Reliance ICC ODI Players Rankings which includes five Australian batsmen (George Bailey (11th), Aaron Finch (12th), Glenn Maxwell (17th), Shane Watson (19th) and James Faulkner (22nd)) and two bowlers (Mitchell Johnson (fifth) and Mitchell Starc (seventh)) inside the top 25.
Australian batsmen sitting just outside the top 25 are captain Michael Clarke (27th), David Warner (28th) and Steven Smith (29th).
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India’s highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions, respectively. Other India batsmen to feature in the top 25 include Shikhar Dhawan (seventh), Dhoni (ninth), Rohit Sharma (13th) and Suresh Raina (25th). Apart from Bhuvneshwar, India boast Ravindra Jadeja (14th), Ravichandran Ashwin (21st) and Mohammad Shami (24th) inside the top 25.
South Africa also have a notable presence in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings.
Captain AB de Villiers leads the batting table, closely followed by Hashim Amla with Quinton de Kock (10th) and Faf du Plessis (20th). Dale Steyn will start as the highest-ranked bowler in the tournament in third position, followed by Morne Morkel (10th) and Imran Tahir (11th).
New Zealand have played 14 ODIs in the past couple of months and have won nine matches. This is also reflected in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings with Kane Williamson (sixth) and Ross Taylor (eighth) featuring in the top 10 of the batting table and Kyle Mills (20th) and Daniel Vettori (23rd), who is playing in his fifth Cricket World Cup, occupying positions inside the top 25 bowlers.
Joe Root is England’s highest-ranked batsman in 14th position while James Anderson is sitting in fifth position on the bowlers’ chart. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq is his country’s highest-ranked batsman in 14th position while 15th-ranked Mohammad Irfan will spearhead the bowling attack.
Sri Lanka’s old war horses, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who will retire at the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, will begin in fourth and 22nd position, respectively, with Tillakaratne Dilshan (fifth) and captain Angelo Mathews (16th) sitting between the two batting stars. Rangana Herath (eighth), Sachithra Senanayake (17th) and Mathews (22nd) are the top-ranked Sri Lankan bowlers.
Among the four qualifiers, Ireland’s Paul Stirling will start as the highest-ranked batsman in 36th position, while Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi is the highest-ranked bowler and all-rounder in 31st and eighth spots, respectively.
Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 12 February 2015, before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015):
Batsmen
| Rank | Batsman | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AB de Villiers | South Africa | 891 |
| 2 | Hashim Amla | South Africa | 867 |
| 3 | Virat Kohli | India | 831 |
| 4 | Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 823 |
| 5 | Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 785 |
| 6 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 784 |
| 7 | Shikhar Dhawan | India | 725 |
| 8 | Ross Taylor | New Zealand | 722 |
| 9 | MS Dhoni | India | 721 |
| 10 | Quinton de Kock | South Africa | 720 |
Bowlers
| Rank | Bowler | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saeed Ajmal | Pakistan | 744 |
| 2 | Sunil Narine | West Indies | 734 |
| 3 | Dale Steyn | South Africa | 724 |
| 4 | James Anderson | England | 706 |
| 5 | Mitchell Johnson | Australia | 683 |
| 6 | Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 680 |
| 7 | Mitchell Starc | Australia | 636 |
| 8 | Mohammad Hafeez | Pakistan | 629 |
| Rangana Herath | Sri Lanka | 629 | |
| 10 | Morne Morkel | South Africa | 628 |