In the most recent ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, dashing New Zealander Daryl Mitchell overtook Indian superstar Virat Kohli on Wednesday after his incredible run of form during the recently finished series in India.
New Zealand ended a 37-year wait by winning the series 2-1, their first in the ODI format on Indian soil. During the series, Mitchell struck two hundreds. In just his 54th innings, he became the fourth-fastest batsman to nine one-day international hundreds, trailing only Imam-ul-Haq (48), Hashim Amla (52), and Quinton de Kock (53).
With 352 runs scored over the course of the three-game series, Mitchell is in the form of his life. Only Babar Azam of Pakistan (360 against the West Indies in 2016) and Shubman Gill of India (360 against New Zealand in 2023) have ever scored more than Mitchell in a three-match ODI series.
“With 845 ranking points, he aptly replaces Kohli (795 points) who drops to No.2 on the list in the latest rankings release. The pair sit well clear of a chasing pack that includes Ibrahim Zadran, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Babar Azam,” the ICC said in a statement.
Mitchell has claimed the top spot in ODI cricket for the second time. He initially had the position in November of last year, but Rohit overtook him after just three days.
Mitchell now has four ODI hundreds against India, fewer than just South African AB de Villiers, who has five.
Mitchell has yet to score an ODI duck in 54 innings, which is the second-longest streak ever, only surpassed by Kepler Wessels, who was remarkably never dismissed for a duck during his 105 ODI innings between 1983 and 1994.
Afghanistan’s Zadran (third, 764 ranking points) and India’s Rohit (fourth, 757) switch places behind Mitchell and Kohli.
In their series-winning victory in Indore, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell amassed 219 runs together, the second-highest partnership in New Zealand’s ODI history. With 106 runs off 88 balls, Phillips moved up 16 spots to 20th.
Azmatullah Omarzai of Afghanistan is still at the top of the list of ODI all-rounders, but Phillips moved up 14 places to equal-31st. After making his comeback in the first two games of the India series, Michael Bracewell of New Zealand moved up six spots to 33rd in the ODI bowling rankings.
Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (710 points) is still the clear leader in the bowling rankings, ahead of England’s Jofra Archer (670 points).
After taking two wickets for Afghanistan in the first game of their series against the West Indies in Dubai, Rashid also climbed two places to second place on the latest rankings for T20I bowlers.
