Mumbai: Indian batting great Virat Kohli was displaced from the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings on Wednesday after New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell surged to the No.1 position following a sensational performance in the recently concluded ODI series in India.
New Zealand scripted history by winning the three-match series 2-1, their first ODI series victory on Indian soil in 37 years, with Mitchell emerging as the defining figure of the contest. The 34-year-old smashed two centuries in the series and accumulated a staggering 352 runs, the most ever by a New Zealand batter in a three-match ODI series. His tally also stands as the third-highest in such a series overall, behind only Babar Azam’s 360 against West Indies in 2016 and Shubman Gill’s 360 against New Zealand in 2023.
Mitchell’s prolific run of form propelled him to 845 rating points, allowing him to leapfrog Kohli, who slipped to second place with 795 points, according to the latest ICC rankings update. The duo now sit comfortably ahead of the chasing pack that includes Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran, India’s Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, and Pakistan’s Babar Azam.
During the series, Mitchell also became the fourth-fastest male batter to score nine ODI centuries, achieving the feat in just his 54th innings. Only Imam-ul-Haq, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock reached the milestone quicker. Remarkably, Mitchell has never been dismissed for a duck in ODI cricket, a streak that now ranks second-longest in history behind Kepler Wessels, who went 105 innings without a zero.
This marks the second time Mitchell has held the No.1 ODI ranking, although his previous stint at the top lasted only three days last November before Rohit Sharma reclaimed the position. Mitchell has now scored four ODI centuries in India against India, with only South African legend AB de Villiers having more such hundreds.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran climbed to third place with 764 points, swapping positions with Rohit Sharma, who dropped to fourth on 757. New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips made a significant jump after his century in the series decider at Indore, where he and Mitchell added 219 runs, the second-highest ODI partnership in New Zealand’s history. Phillips moved up 16 places to 20th among ODI batters and also rose to joint 31st in the all-rounders’ list.
In the bowling rankings, Michael Bracewell was the biggest gainer among New Zealand players, climbing six spots to 33rd following his performances in the first two matches. The top of the ODI bowling chart remains unchanged, with Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan leading on 710 points ahead of England’s Jofra Archer. Rashid also climbed to second place in the T20I bowling rankings after his showing against the West Indies in Dubai.
Mitchell’s rise to the summit underlines one of the most dominant individual ODI series performances in recent memory and caps a historic tour for New Zealand cricket.
