AB de Villiers reclaims top spot in ODI rankings

South African ODI skipper AB de Villiers is back on the top spot in the ICC ODI Rankings after being the highest run amasser in the recent series against New Zealand which his side won 3-2. De Villiers’ 262 runs in the series, including a highest of 85 in the third ODI at Wellington, helped him overtake Australia’s opener David Warner at the top of the table, reclaiming the top spot only after two months of losing it to India captain Virat Kohli.

De Villiers is on 875 points, four ahead of Warner and 23 ahead of Kohli in the rankings released today that take into account performances in 15 ODIs including West Indies’ 3-0 loss to England, Afghanistan’s 3-2 win over Zimbabwe and Ireland’s 2-0 verdict over the United Arab Emirates.

This is, for a record breaking 10th time that the 33-year-old South African batsman is at the top of the rankings since first taking the spot in May 2010. Since September 2009, he has never been ranked outside the top five.

England batsmen Joe Root and Alex Hales have also reached their career-best rankings after the series in the islands. Root has reached the fourth spot after scoring 195 runs including 101 in the final match in Bridgetown. Alex Hales, on the other hand, has gained four spots to reach the 16th position.

Also read – Mitchell Starc to miss the last two Tests against India due to injury

Other batsmen to move upward on the rankings are New Zealand pair of Martin Guptill (up two places to the seventh rank) and Ross Taylor (up two places to 14th) and the Ireland pair of Ed Joyce (up one place to 28th) and Kevin O’Brien (up three places to 40th).

Check out – ODI player rankings here

*Rankings updated after the end of WI v ENG, ODI Series