Latest ICC ODI rankings announced

What’s the story?

After New Zealand annihilated West Indies in the three-match ODI series, fast bowler Trent Boult has gained three places to reach the fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings.

Fellow Kiwi, Mitchell Santner has reached the 10th position after he picked up three wickets in the final match of the series, which was also his only appearance in the series.

Pakistan's Hasan Ali is still the number one bowler in ODI cricket.

The details

Also, Doug Bracewell (up 15 places to 77th) has also moved up the bowling rankings, while senior player Ross Taylor (up four places to 11th) and Henry Nicholls (up 30 places to 90th) were the other players to have moved up the table.

Indian captain Virat Kohli leads the batting charts in the ODI cricket followed by AB de Villiers and David Warner.

Also, there has been no change in the rankings of the teams after the conclusion of the series.

New Zealand have gained one point to reach 112 points but the fifth position in the table which is led by South Africa. West Indies, on the other hand, have lost a point and stay put in the ninth place.

In case you didn’t know…

It was not a very fruitful year for the West Indies, who failed to secure a direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. They will now have to play in ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 in Zimbabwe in March.

What’s next?

With India playing South Africa and Australia taking on England early next year, these rankings are bound to see a massive shakeup.

Also, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and hosts Zimbabwe will battle it out for the world cup berths as the top two teams will progress to the main round.

Author’s take

Although the players and teams maintain that they are not too bothered about the rankings, it can safely be said that since every performance is documented, it is bound to occupy the psyche of players when they take the field.