Mushfiqur Rahim overtakes Joe Root in ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen
Mushfiqur Rahim has attained the 14th position in the latest ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen after his superb performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League series against Sri Lanka.
The Bangladeshi wicket-keeper batsman has won the Player of the Match award in the two games of the series played so far. He played a match-winning knock of 84 runs in the 1st ODI and followed it up with a century to guide Bangladesh to a historic series win over Sri Lanka.
Thanks to his brilliant batting against the Islanders, Mushfiqur Rahim has now overtaken English batter Joe Root in the ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen.
Rahim currently holds the 14th ranking with 739 points to his name, while Root is 15th with 723 points. Australia's Steve Smith (707 points) jointly holds the 16th spot along with New Zealand's Martin Guptill.
Mushfiqur Rahim will look forward to playing another game-changing innings in the final ODI of the series against Sri Lanka.
Mushfiqur Rahim's teammates could not gain much in the latest ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen
While Mushfiqur Rahim inched closer to the top 10 of the ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen, his teammate Shakib Al Hasan slipped to the 29th position. Even Mushfiqur's captain Tamim Iqbal has dropped to 24th in the recently-updated rankings.
Speaking of the Sri Lankan players, Danushka Gunathilaka has risen to the 48th rank, where he is tied with Kusal Mendis. Senior all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who is not playing against Bangladesh, has fallen to the 41st rank. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Perera retained the 55th ranking.
It will be interesting to see if the Sri Lankan batters can bounce back in the final ODI and help their team open their account in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.