ICC rankings for ODI batsmen: AB de Villiers continues dominance on top; Virat Kohli drops down to No.4

Virat Kohli has dropped down to No.4 in the latest ICC rankings for batsmen

There has been plenty of reshuffle in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings following 23 absorbing and exciting pool stage matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 currently being staged in Australia and New Zealand.

Kumar Sangakkara is the leading run-getter so far in cricket’s biggest spectacle with 268 runs, and this is reflected in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen. The left-hander now has 849 rating points, the same as South Africa’s Hashim Amla. As a result, Virat Kohli has dropped down to the No.4 position in the rankings.

The batting table is headed by South Africa captain AB de Villiers, who leads Sangakkara and Amla by 49 rating points. De Villiers, with 217 runs, is sixth in the list of leading run-getters in the tournament to date and is just two rating points short of becoming only the 11th batsman to break the 900-point barrier since the introduction of the current ODI player rankings system.

West Indies’ Chris Gayle, with 258 runs, is second on the list of top run-scorers for which he has been rewarded with a leap of five places, which, in turn, has put him in 52nd place along with Afghanistan’s Samiullah Shenwari (up by 12 places).

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and South Africa’s David Miller are the biggest movers in the latest rankings, which were released on Monday.

McCullum has jumped 10 places to 18th following his 207 runs in four matches to date while Miller has moved up 14 places to 23rd as his three innings have yielded 180 runs to date.

Other batsmen to head in the right direction are Aaron Finch eighth (up by four places), Misbah-ul-Haq 13th (up by two places), Suresh Raina 20th (up by four places), Mahela Jayawardene 21st (up by four places) and Brendan Taylor 29th (up by three places).

Ireland’s Paul Stirling remains the highest-ranked batsman from the Associate nations and is sharing 34th position with Bangladesh duo Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. Stirling’s team-mate Ed Joyce has gained 12 places and is now in 58th spot, while the UAE’s Shaiman Anwar, who is the seventh leading run-getter to date with 208 runs, is in 99th spot after rocketing 93 places.

ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen

Rank	Player	Country	Rating
1	AB de Villiers	South Africa	898
2	Hashim Amla	South Africa	849
3	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	849
4	Virat Kohli	India	847
5	Tillakaratne Dilshan	Sri Lanka	798
6	Kane Williamson	New Zealand	789
7	Shikhar Dhawan	India	784
8	Aaron Finch	Australia	734
9	George Bailey	Australia	718
10	MS Dhoni	India	712