ICC ODI Rankings: Virat Kohli beats AB de Villiers to reclaim top spot

Virat KohliIndia captain Virat Kohli has reclaimed the top batting spot while Australias pace ace Josh Hazlewood has achieved the numberone position in the bowlersrankings for the first time in his career in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings which were released on Tuesday following the conclusion of the last round of league matches in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017Kohli had entered the tournament 22 points behind numberone ranked AB de Villiers of South Africa who had been No1 since 25 February 2017 and 19 points behind Australias David Warner However following knocks of 81 not out against Pakistan and 76 not out against South Africa he has leapfrogged de Villiers and Warner into the numberspotKohli who is ahead of Warner by just one point had enjoyed just four days at the top in January 2017 but will now be aiming to do better when he faces Bangladesh in the second semifinal at Edgbaston on ThursdayIndias opener Shikhar Dhawan has continued his loveaffair with the ICC Champions Trophy by returning into the top 10 The lefthander has vaulted five places to 10th following scores of 68 against Pakistan 125 against Sri Lanka and 78 against South AfricaDhawans rise means his teammates Rohit Sharma and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have slipped one place each to 13th and 14th respectively while Yuvraj Singh has gained six places and is now in 88th spotFast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has led the charge of Indias bowlers by vaulting 13 places to share 23rd spot with Afghanistans Hamza Hotak Umesh Yadav has gained two places and is now 41st while Jasprit Bumrah is 43rd after rising three placesHowever Indias spinners have slipped in the latest rankings with Ravichandran Ashwin dropping two places to 20th and Ravindra Jadeja falling three places to 29thEnglands impressive form in the ICC Champions Trophy is reflected in the latest player rankingsAmongst the batsmen Joe Root has moved up one place to fourth and Ben Stokes has rocketed nine places to a careerhigh 20th place whereas amongst the bowlers Liam Plunkett has jumped seven places to a careerbest ninth spot Adil Rashid has shot up nine places to 11th spot Mark Wood has risen 35 places to a careerhigh 39th position and Jake Ball is now ranked 53rd after gaining 25 placesEoin Morgan has slipped one place to 18th and Jos Buttler has dropped two places to 19th following Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbals rise from 19th to 17th in the latest rankingsApart from Tamim wicketkeeperbatsman Mushfiqur Rahim has retained his 21st spot Shakib Al Hasan has moved up one place to 30th and Mahmudullah has climbed six places to 37th positionIn contrast Bangladesh bowlers have headed in the opposite direction with Shakib plummeting seven places to 16th Mashrafe Mortaza slipping four places to 18th Mustafizur Rahman sliding six places to 21st Rubel Hossain finishing in 60th place after dropping four places and Taskin Ahmed falling one place to 63rdPakistan which takes on England in the first semifinal in Cardiff on Tuesday also has something to celebrate in the latest rankingsIts gutsy wicketkeeperbatsman and captain Sarfraz Ahmed has jumped five places to claim 31st ranking in the batting table fast bowler Hassan Ali has stormed to a careerbest 19th rank after vaulting 16 places Imad Wasim has gained eight places to occupy 31st spot and Mohammad Amir has earned one spot and is now 37thPakistans batsmen slide in the rankings include Babar Azam eighth down by one place Mohammad Hafeez 22nd down by two places Azhar Ali 42nd down by two and Shoaib Malik 48th down by oneWorld champion Australias only consolation in the latest player rankings is that its fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has claimed the coveted numberone position for the first time in his careerJosh HazlewoodHazlewood is currently the leading wickettaker in the tournament with nine wickets in three matches including six for 52 against New Zealand in a game which was abandoned due to rainHazlewood who is the first Australia bowler to top the bowling charts since October 2015 when Mitchell Starc peaked to the top has leapfrogged Imran Tahir Starc and Kagiso RabadaThere is no change in the top five of the allrounders list which is headed by Bangladeshs Shakib Al Hasan However Stokes has gained one spot and is now sixth while Jadeja has broken into the top 10 in eighth position after rising three placesAway from the ICC Champions Trophy West Indies and Afghanistan are involved in a threematch ODI series which is presently locked at oneall Following Afghanistans shocking win in the opening match wrist spinner Rashid Khan has rocketed 18 places to seventh place after claiming seven for 18The defeat in St Lucia on June 9 has severely dented ninthranked the West Indies as it has dropped from 79 points to 77 points in the MRF Tyes ICC ODI Team Rankings Even if it wins the seriesdecider on June 14 it will finish on 78 points which is not good news considering September 30 is the cutoff date for automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019As England plus the next seven highestranked sides as on September 30 will qualify directly the West IndiesJune 9 loss plus Pakistans victories against highestranked South Africa and Sri Lanka means Pakistan is now ahead of the West Indies by 14 pointsMeanwhile there is no change in the rankings of the top three sides following 12 matches in the ICC Champions Trophy though numberone ranked South Africa has dropped three points and secondranked Australia has conceded one pointHowever England has swapped places with New Zealand and is now ranked fourth three points ahead of the Black CapsIn the upcoming matches India will have a chance to top the table But for that to happen it will not only want to face England in the final but also need to retain the title In this scenario Kohlis side will join South Africa on 119 points but will be ranked ahead of the Proteas by a fraction of a point