Kagiso Rabada to start ICC Champions Trophy ranked No. 1 ODI bowler
Rabada displaced senior statesman Imran Tahir to become the No. 1 ranked ODI bowler ahead of his first Champions Trophy participation.
South Africa is ranked one of the favourites to lift the ICC Champions Trophy and they got a major fillip going into the tournament. On the back of a stunning performance in the last ODI against England, where he wrecked the top order by picking 4/39, Rabada moved four places to dismantle fellow countryman, Imran Tahir, to become the No. 1 ranked ODI bowler in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.
Aged 22, Rabada is the youngest to top the bowlers ranking since Saqlain Mushtaq, who was just 21 when he achieved the feat in 1998. The former U-19 star finished the series with 7 wickets and was named the man of the match in the final inconsequential ODI.
South Africa have the best batsman too
Incidentally, South African skipper AB De Villiers is ranked as the No. 1 ODI batsman in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen hence South Africa will start their ICC Champions Trophy camp with both top bowler and batsman in the world in their ranks. The Proteas have three more batsmen in the top ten – Quinton de Kock, who is at the 4th position; vice-captain du Plessis, who is at the 6th position; and Hashim Amla at 10th.
All top eight ranked teams will participate in the mega tournament. The competition is going to be fiercely intense, as it is in the ranking. De Villiers, Warner and Kohli are top three ranked batsmen and are separated by just 22 points between them. The equation is similar as the top three ranked bowlers – Rabada, Tahir and Starc – are separated by 23 points.
South Africa are the No. 1 ranked ODI team with 122 points. The other countries are not far behind as Australia trail by just 4 points, India 5, New Zealand 8 and England a mere 10 points. This tournament could well change the equation of the rankings as teams will jostle against each other.
Bangladesh ahead of former champions
Bangladesh are currently the 6th ranked team in the ratings, ahead of former World Champions – Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan will be given a chance to gain points as they will compete against higher ranked teams which will help them qualify directly for the ICC World Cup in 2019.
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 30 May, before the ICC Champions Trophy)
Rank Team Points
- South Africa 122 (-1)
- Australia 118
- India 117
- New Zealand 114
- England 112 (+2)
- Bangladesh 93
- Sri Lanka 93
- Pakistan 88
- West Indies 79
- Afghanistan 52
- Zimbabwe 46
- Ireland 41
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 30 May, before the ICC Champions Trophy)
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 874 54.38 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
2 ( – ) David Warner Aus 871 44.84 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017
3 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 852 53.11 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
4 (+2) Q. de Kock SA 776 43.71 803 v NZ at Wellington 2017
5 (-1) Joe Root Eng 772 47.89 792 v Ire at Lord’s 2017
6 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 765 43.34 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017
7= (+1) Babar Azam Pak 762*! 55.08 762 v WI at Guyana 2017
( – ) Martin Guptill NZ 762 43.66 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017
9 ( – ) K. Williamson NZ 742 45.90 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
10 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 734 50.22 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
11 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 733 43.67 752 v Pak at Sydney 2017
12 ( – ) Rohit Sharma Ind 717 41.37 761 v Aus at Sydney 2016
13 ( – ) MS Dhoni Ind 712 50.96 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
14 ( – ) Ross Taylor NZ 701 44.01 743 v Zim at Harare 2015
15 (-1) S. Dhawan Ind 690 42.91 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015
16 ( – ) Alex Hales Eng 667 37.86 692 v SA at Headingley 2017
17= (+5) Eoin Morgan Eng 646 38.10 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010
( – ) Jos Buttler Eng 646 36.40 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2016
19 ( – ) Tamim Iqbal Ban 642! 33.43 642 v NZ at Dublin 2017
20 ( – ) M. Hafeez Pak 632 32.73 665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
1 (+4) K. Rabada SA 724! 24.90 5.13 724 v Eng at Lord’s 2017
2 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 722 24.18 4.67 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
3 (-1) Mitchell Starc Aus 701 19.88 4.81 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
4 (-1) Sunil Narine WI 690 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
5 (+1) J. Hazlewood Aus 684*! 25.18 4.65 684 v NZ at Hamilton 2017
6 (-2) Trent Boult NZ 683 24.85 4.98 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016
7 ( – ) Chris Woakes Eng 645 31.56 5.59 651 v SA at Headingley 2017
8 ( – ) M. Nabi Afg 622 32.33 4.32 653 v Zim at Harare 2017
9 (+1) S. Al Hasan Ban 620 28.74 4.38 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
10 (+1) M. Santner NZ 617*! 32.20 4.95 617 v Ban at Dublin 2017
11= (-2) Matt Henry NZ 615 25.26 5.62 675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016
( – ) Akshar Patel Ind 615* 30.20 4.38 624 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016
13 ( – ) Amit Mishra Ind 609* 23.60 4.72 618 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016
14 (+1) M. Mortaza Ban 601 30.11 4.75 653 v Zim at Mirpur 2009
15 (+3) M. Rahman Ban 600*! 16.00 4.62 600 v NZ at Dublin 2017
16 (+7) Liam Plunkett Eng 597* 31.13 5.73 600 v SA at Southampton 2017
17 (-1) Jason Holder WI 590 32.90 5.44 605 v SL at Bulawayo 2016
18= (-1) Dale Steyn SA 579 26.62 4.94 746 v Ind at Durban 2013
(+2) R. Ashwin Ind 579 32.37 4.91 691 v SL at Hambantota 2012
20 (-6) Adil Rashid Eng 576 34.12 5.68 655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( – ) S. Al Hasan Ban 362 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
2 ( – ) M. Hafeez Pak 353 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
3 ( – ) M. Nabi Afg 330 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
4 ( – ) A. Mathews SL 309 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
5 ( – ) J. Faulkner Aus 308 361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
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