Shubman Gill and Maheesh Theekshana have become the new No. 1 men’s ODI batter and bowler respectively in the ICC rankings update released on the opening day of the Champions Trophy. Gill has gone past Babar Azam on his list, while Theekshana has gone past Rashid Khan on his.

Gill had an excellent time of it in the home ODI series against England, which India won 3-0, with scores of 87, 60 and 112, which made him the top run-getter in the series, his 259 runs coming at an average of 86.33 and a strike rate of 103.60. The next highest scorer, Shreyas Iyer, was 78 behind Gill with 181 runs.

This is the second time Gill has gone to the top of the pile in ODI cricket – the previous occasion was during the ODI World Cup in 2023.

Gill’s rise has pushed Babar to second place. Gill has 796 rating points, while Babar has 773.

They are followed in the top five by Rohit Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Daryl Mitchell, who has moved up two places after the tri-series in Pakistan where he scored 81, 10 and 57.

Following the two-ODI series against England, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka has moved up eight spots to No. 8, while Mohammad Rizwan, the Pakistan captain, has reached 15th place.

Sri Lanka are not a part of the Champions Trophy, having missed out on qualification, but along with Asalanka, Theekshana made the most of the two-ODI series at home against Australia, returning 4 for 40 and none for 11.

Rashid, who hasn’t played an ODI since last December, has slipped to the second spot, but isn’t too far behind Theekshana – he has 669 ratings points to the table-topper’s 680, and a good Champions Trophy campaign can take him back to the top.

Behind Theekshana and Rashid on the bowlers’ table is Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz, followed by India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi in the top five. Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand captain, has made big moves too, his five wickets in the three ODIs in the Pakistan tri-series giving him a five-spot boost and putting him at No. 7.

(Cricinfo)