Indian men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma was on fire with the bat in the recently concluded three-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka. The 37-year-old right-handed batter top-scored for the Men in Blue in all three matches played at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. But despite his good show with the bat, he was unable to help the world No. 1 team get the better of the hosts in any of the three ODIs, and as a result, for the first time in 27 years, India lost an ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Despite the forgetful series against Sri Lanka earlier this month, Rohit has gained in the ODI rankings, and he has now moved to No. 2 position in the ICC batter’s rankings. He has 765 rating points to his name. The No. 2 position is his joint-best ranking in ODIs. The star India opening batter has never reached the No. 1 position in the ICC rankings.
Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam sits in the No. 1 position. The 29-year-old, who played an ODI match in November 2023, has 824 rating points to his name. Babar and Rohit are followed by Shubman Gill (763 points) and Virat Kohli (746 points).
A total of four Indian batters have only managed to reach the No. 1 position in the ODI rankings till date. Legendary Sachin Tendulkar was the first batter to achieve the feat, and after him, MS Dhoni reached the No. 1 position in 2006. Virat and Gill are the other two Indians to become world No. 1 ODI batters.
No Rohit in the Duleep Trophy squad
Rohit, who became the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni to win an ICC trophy in June, was expected to play in the Duleep Trophy next month but was not included in any of the four squads announced by the BCCI on Wednesday (August 14).
The right-handed batter will return to action for India during the two-match Test series against Bangladesh in September. The first red-ball match is scheduled to take place at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and will start on September 19, and Green Park Stadium in Kanpur will host the second Test from September 27 onwards.
India will also face New Zealand in a three-match Test series at home later this year before travelling to Australia to face the Baggy Green in a five-match Test series.
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