Daryl Mitchell has slipped into the No. 1 spot on the ICC men’s ODI batting chart, easing past Rohit Sharma after his seventh one-day hundred against West Indies on Sunday. It is only the second time a New Zealander has occupied the summit – Glenn Turner last did so back in 1979.
Mitchell, who tweaked a hamstring during that innings and will miss the rest of the series, sounded typically low-key. “I’m just trying to keep things simple and do my job for the team,” he told Spark Sport, adding that the ranking “won’t change how I go about it”.
Rohit drops to No. 2 but remains inside a crowded top 10 featuring three other Indians: Shubman Gill (No. 4), Virat Kohli (No. 5) and Shreyas Iyer (No. 8). Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran holds third place after a steady run of scores.
In the Test lists, Temba Bavuma has pushed into the top five for the first time. His gritty 55 in punishing Kolkata heat helped South Africa end a 15-year wait for a Test victory in India. “I had to dig deep out there; conditions were brutal,” Bavuma said at the post-match presentation. Joe Root keeps a firm hold on the No. 1 berth, with England team-mate Harry Brook in pursuit.
Bowling-wise, Jasprit Bumrah stays top of the Test pile following a six-wicket haul at Eden Gardens. “The ball was reversing, so it was a decent little challenge,” he noted afterwards. Matt Henry and Pakistan left-armer Noman Ali round out the podium. Marco Jansen, who chipped in with runs and wickets in Kolkata, sits just outside the top 10 and has climbed into the top five among all-rounders.
Pakistan’s clean-sweep over Sri Lanka has propelled leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed 11 places to No. 9 on the ODI bowling table. Rashid Khan continues to front that list, followed by Jofra Archer and Keshav Maharaj.
Short-format form is also rewarded. Jacob Duffy’s eight wickets across five November T20Is against West Indies have lifted the New Zealand seamer to No. 2 in the T20 bowling rankings, nestled between Varun Chakravarthy and Rashid.
These movements underline how quickly the numbers can shift at this stage of the cycle. A century, a five-for or even a pair of tidy spells can swing 20 or 30 ranking points – handy, but fragile. As ICC performance analyst Aakash Jadeja puts it, “Three good games can take you up; three quiet ones can send you back down just as quickly.”
For now, Mitchell enjoys a slice of New Zealand history, Bavuma savours overdue recognition, and the rankings – like the game itself – keep ticking over.
