India surge to No. 1 in ICC ODI rankings after 3-0 series sweep over New Zealand

Team India have climbed to the top of the ICC ODI rankings following their comprehensive 90-run victory over New Zealand in the third ODI in Indore on Tuesday, January 24. The Men in Blue are now at the summit in both the ICC white-ball rankings, having been at the top spot in T20Is already.

Rohit Sharma and Co. started the ODI home series against the Kiwis in third position in the standings, behind England and New Zealand. However, the series sweep helped India establish themselves as the top-ranked ODI outfit in the world, leaving behind the other two sides.

After being asked to bat first, India posted a score of 385/9 in their stipulated 50 overs, headlined by centuries from Rohit and Shubman Gill. The Indian captain also broke his century drought, scoring his first ODI hundred since January 2020 and leading from the front with an aggressive approach.

New Zealand opener Devon Conway spearheaded the tourists' run-chase after Finn Allen perished on the second ball of the innings, dismissed by Hardik Pandya. The left-handed Conway built a 106-run stand with Henry Nicholls, but three wickets from Shardul Thakur in the middle overs dented the Kiwis' run chase. Kuldeep Yadav also snared three scalps to bowl the Kiwis out for 295.

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"We're consistent in our approach with the bat and ball" - Indian captain Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma scored 101 off 85 balls. (Credits: Twitter)

In the post-match presentation, Rohit said they intended to give opportunities to the fringe players, having rested Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami.

The 35-year-old underlined that they plan to win games consistently and are not bothered about the rankings.

"In the last six games, we've done most things right in ODIs," the Indian captain said. "We're consistent in our approach with the bat and ball. Without Siraj and Shami we wanted to give opportunities to other guys on the bench. We wanted to bring Chahal and Umran in the mix, put them under pressure.

"We had runs on the board, but on this kind of ground no total is safe. We stuck to the plans, held our nerves. Honestly, we don't talk too much about rankings. It's about winning games and it won't be different when we play the Tests against Australia. It won't be an easy challenge, but we're up for it."

The three-game home T20 series between India and New Zealand begins on Friday, January 27, in Ranchi.