ICC Rankings: AB de Villiers No. 1 ODI batsman

Dubai: Despite failing to retain his IPL form, South African batsman AB de Villiers continued to stay at the top of the ICC player rankings for ODI batsmen, released on Monday, while India’s mainstay Virat Kohli, who skipped the Zimbabwe tour, is placed at No. 2. De Villiers scored just 121 runs in 6 matches with a top score of 39 during the just concluded tri-series where hosts West Indies and Australia were the other two teams. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are the two other Indian batsman in the top 10. The Indian openers occupy the sixth and eighth positions respectively. AB de Villiers’ countryman Hashim Amla is placed third. Australia’s Marsh has gained six places to reach 28th. Marsh scored 154 runs in the tri-series, including a 79 not out against the West Indies in a league game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. West Indies’ Marlon Samuels has gained two places to reach 27^th while their stylish left-handed batsman Darren Bravo has earned 10 places to claim 40th spot after scoring 222 runs in the tournament, including 102 against South Africa in a must-win match against South Africa. Farhaan Behardien of South Africa has jumped six places to 49th spot. West Indies’ Kieron Pollard is now in 54th spot after moving up six places. There is some good news for England batsmen as well. Opener Alex Hales has jumped seven places to claim a career-high 24th position, while Jason Roy has made a gain of 12 places and is now on a career-high 78th position. Sri Lanka batsmen making upward movements after three ODIs against England include Angelo Mathews 20th (up by two places), Dinesh Chandimal 59th (up by 11 places) and Upul Tharanga 98th (up by five places).