India captain Virat Kohli and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah lead the ICC ODI player rankings going into the World Cup while England go into the 10-team tournament as the top-ranked side.
Hosts England have 125 points while India are in second position four points behind in the team rankings. In the player rankings, Kohli enjoys a comfortable 41-point lead over his second-placed team-mate Rohit Sharma in the current rankings, which were updated last week after England’s 4-0 series victory over Pakistan, the tri-series in Ireland, and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan’s tours of the British Isles.
The top 10 for batsmen also has two players each from New Zealand (Ross Taylor at third and Martin Guptill at 10th), South Africa (Quinton de Kock at fifth) and Faf du Plessis at sixth) and Pakistan (Babar Azam at seventh and Fakhar Zaman at ninth). Shai Hope of the West Indies and Joe Root of England are in fourth and eighth positions, respectively.
Hope scored 470 runs in the tri-series in Ireland, more than 200 runs more than anyone else, which propelled him up to a career-best fourth place with 808 points. The home side’s Paul Stirling who struck 130 against Bangladesh moved up five places to 25th and Soumya Sarkar who helped Bangladesh win the tournament with a quick-fire innings of 66 from just 41 balls in the final at Malahide gained 10 places to reach 28th place.
In the bowlers’ list, Bumrah has compatriot wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav (seventh) and Yuzvendra Chahal (eighth) for company while South Africa has the pair of Imran Tahir and Kagiso Rabada in third and fourth positions.
Trent Boult of New Zealand (second), Rashid Khan of Afghanistan (third), Pat Cummins of Australia (sixth), Chris Woakes of England (ninth) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (10th) are the others in the top 10 dominated by wrist spinners.
The Bangladesh spin twins Shakib and Mehedy Hasan Miraz also performed well in the tri-series tournament, which resulted in useful gains.
Shakib bowled economically, conceding just 4.31 runs per over to move up 10 places and back into the world’s top 20 bowlers. Mehedy conceded only 4.20 runs per over in the tournament, and ended in a career-best 22nd place.
Jason Roy was the star in England’s high-scoring series win over Pakistan. He scored 277 runs in the series to move back into the world’s top 20, and is on the verge of moving past 700 points for the first time.
Roy is part of a group of four England batsmen between 15th and 20th, which also includes Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan.
Each of Pakistan’s top three scored a century in the series, with Imam-ul-Haq moving up to a career-best 14th place as his career batting average moved past sixty. His opening partner Fakhar Zaman also reached a career-high with 768 points over the course of the series, and Babar Azam is also in the top 10 with the bat.
Bowlers had a tougher time in the England v Pakistan series, with Chris Woakes a notable exception, as his figures of four for 67 at Bristol and five for 54 at Leeds took him back into the top ten for the first time since March 2018.
Imad Wasim’s six wickets in the series have taken him up to a career-best 570 points in 28th place. Shaheen Shah Afridi was expensive but at least had the consolation of reaching a career-best 57th place with 473 points at the end of the series.
Shakib is the top-ranked all-rounder at 559 points with Rashid only 20 behind and his compatriot Mohammad Nabi a further 20 behind at 519 points.
With PTI inputs
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!