Asia Cup success sees Rohit Sharma rise to second spot in latest ICC ODI rankings

Indian cricket team opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who led his team to Asia Cup title in the absence of top-ranked Virat Kohli, on Sunday climbed two places up to a career-best second position to make it a 1-2 for India in the ICC ODI batting rankings.

This is for the second time that Sharma is in second position, having first reached number two in July this year. He aggregated 317 runs in the tournament, which India won by beating Bangladesh in the final by three wickets.

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Shikhar Dhawan, who was highest run-getter with 342 runs, gained four slots to reach fifth position. The pair was rested in India’s last Super Four match which ended in a tie against Afghanistan but still led the run aggregate, thanks largely to a 210-run partnership in the Super Four match against Pakistan in which Sharma slammed an unbeaten 111 and Dhawan scored 114.

READ: ASIA CUP 2018: Shikhar Dhawan Reveals Best Moment From The Final Against Bangladesh

Another India player to gain in the rankings table is spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has advanced three places to take a career-best third position after finishing as the joint-highest wicket taker along with Bangladesh’s fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman and Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, all of who finished with 10 wickets each.

In the ICC ODI Team rankings, there is no change in positions in the list led by England, which is followed by India, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. However, India has gained one point and Afghanistan five. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have lost three points each.

Rashid has displaced former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan from the top of the all-rounders’ list. He has become the first from his country and 32nd overall to reach top position in the list with a jump of six places.

Rashid’s success with the ball saw him cross the 800-point mark during the tournament, which saw in action five of the 10 teams to fight it out in next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup, and he also chipped in with 87 runs to reach a career-best 97th position among batsmen.

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Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad has gained 19 slots to reach 36th position, his highest in two years, while spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has gained 15 slots to reach eighth position.

For Bangladesh, wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has attained a career-best 16th position, while Liton Das has advanced 107 positions to reach 116th rank after his maiden century in the final. Mustafizur has moved up four places to take 12th position among bowlers.

Pakistan left-hander Imam-ul-Haq has gained 15 places to reach a career-best 27th position while Shoaib Malik has gained 12 slots to reach 42nd position. Junaid Khan has gained seven slots to reach 30th position among bowlers.

For Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga has gained two positions to reach 41st rank while Hong Kong captain Anshuman Rath’s knock of 73 against India has led him to 55th position with 532 points, the highest ever points tally for a Hong Kong batsman.