Dubai: Indian batting icon Virat Kohli has narrowed the gap on teammate Rohit Sharma in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, following his brilliant performance in the first ODI against South Africa.

Kohli hammered a superb 135 off 120 balls, marking his 83rd international century. The innings pushed him up one spot to fourth place with 751 rating points, now just 32 points behind Rohit Sharma, who continues to hold the No.1 position.

New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell remains second with 766 points, while Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran sits third on 764 points.

Kohli, who ruled the ODI rankings for more than three years earlier in his career, has not reclaimed the top spot since Babar Azam overtook him in April 2021. Meanwhile, Indian captain Shubman Gill, currently out due to injury, has slipped to fifth place.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings, India’s left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav climbed up one place to sixth, continuing his strong run of form.

South African players enjoyed substantial gains after their impressive 2-0 Test series win over India.

• Left-arm quick Marco Jansen jumped five spots to fifth in the Test bowling rankings and achieved a career-best second place among Test all-rounders.
• Simon Harmer, the Player of the Series, rose 13 places to 11th after taking 17 wickets across two Tests.
• Among the batters, Kyle Verreynne moved up to 38th, Ryan Rickelton to 39th, and Tristan Stubbs surged 16 spots to 47th.

With form, momentum, and rankings shifting rapidly, the coming months promise even more excitement across formats.