In the latest ICC update on August 13th, Rohit Sharma has moved to number 2 in the men’s ODI batting rankings. Interestingly, this has happened even though the 38 year old hasn’t played any official cricket since the 2025 IPL.
This slide coincides with a poor run for Babar Azam who has dropped to number 3 after a series of low scores in the recent ODI series against West Indies in the Caribbean. Azam was just 16 points behind Shubman Gill who is at number 1 and looked like he had a good chance to take the top spot. But he scored 47, 0 and 9 in the 3 ODIs and now has 751 points.
Looking at the top 10 batters in the ODI rankings, this is the only change. Shai Hope who scored a century in the 3rd ODI hasn’t moved up the rankings so it’s unclear if those scores were considered. Hope’s century was his 18th in this format and helped West Indies reach 294.
As it stands Sharma is just behind Shubman Gill who remains at number 1. Gill has 784 points and Sharma has 756. Virat Kohli who is the former captain is at number 4 with 736 points. He will look to improve his ranking when he plays in the 3 match ODI series against Australia in October.
The change in rankings comes as the BCCI is not in a hurry to decide on what to do with Sharma and Kohli. This after a report said the two might retire after the Australia tour in October.
India has 5 players in the top 15 in the men’s ODI batting rankings. Shreyas Iyer is at number 8 and KL Rahul is at number 15.
Read Also:- India 2025 Asia Cup Squad: No Yashasvi Jaiswal, No Rishabh Pant in T20 Plans?
Sharma and Kohli last played in ODIs during the Champions Trophy. They stepped away from Test cricket during the 2025 IPL. They were expected to play again in August but the series against Bangladesh has been pushed to next year.Sharma and Kohli will play in October when India tours Australia. That will give them a chance to move up the rankings.
For bowlers, Maheesh Theekshana from Sri Lanka is still at number 1 with 671 points. Gudakesh Motie from West Indies has moved up 5 places to 12th after taking 4 wickets in 3 matches against Pakistan. From India, Kuldeep Yadav (2nd) and Ravindra Jadeja (9th) are in the top 10.
