Mohammed Siraj slips from top spot to third in ICC rankings for bowlers in ODIs

Mohammed Siraj of India prepares to bowl during day two of the Third Test match in the series between India and Australia at Holkare Cricket Stadium.
| Photo Credit: Robert Cianflone

Pacer Mohammed Siraj was on Wednesday dethroned from the top spot by Australia’s Josh Hazlewood in the latest ICC rankings for ODI bowlers, as the Indian slipped to third place.

Another Australian pacer, Mitchell Starc, who impressed during the first two ODIs of the three-match series in India, also moved up to join Siraj at joint third.

Siraj, who returned with impressive figures of 3/29 to help India win the first ODI against Australia, was expensive in the second ODI giving away 37 runs in three overs and consequently lost his position as the top-ranked bowler.

The right-arm pacer had copped the brunt of the attack by Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head during the second ODI in Visakhapatnam. Siraj, who has had a successful run across formats in recent past, was crowned as the world No. 1 bowler in ODIs in January this year.

Starc claimed three wickets in Mumbai to stage Australia’s fightback while his 5/53 in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam powered the visitors to a 10-wicket win.

Hazlewood, who missed the entire tour of India consisting four Tests and three ODIs, became world No. 1 bowler in ODIs for the first time ever.

“Hazlewood, whose career-best second position was attained for the first time in June 2017 and which he had kept since August 2022, is No. 1 in ODIs for the first time,” the ICC said.

Mohammad Shami, who produced a match-winning spell in Mumbai, also moved five spots up to reach to 28th in the list.

KL Rahul’s unbeaten 75, which helped India recover from a poor start and win the first ODI by five wickets, helped him move up three places to get to the 39th spot.

In the ODI ranking among batters, India’s Shubman Gill — who made ‘marginal progress’ — and Virat Kohli remained fifth and seventh respectively, while captain Rohit Sharma moved up one place to ninth.

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson moved up to the second spot among batters in Test cricket following his dominant show with the bat against Sri Lanka, with the former skipper notching up scores of 1, 121 not out and 215 in the two-match series which the Kiwis won 2-0.

With his sixth double ton in Tests, Williamson is now just one behind Kohli (seven) as players with most scores over 200.

Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne remains the top ranked batter in Test cricket.

New Zealand’s left-handed batter Henry Nicholls, who made 200 not out in the Wellington Test and was involved in a massive 363-run stand with Williamson in what was Test cricket’s 2,500th match, jumped up 20 spots to reach to 27th.

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne occupies the 10th spot.