Chance for Kohli to reclaim No.1 spot

 Dubai, Oct 5 (IANS) Indian batsman Virat Kohli will be aiming to reclaim his No.1 ranking in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen when he takes the field against the West Indies in the five-match ODI series starting Oct 8.

Kohli, who is ranked third, surged to the top of the table earlier this year but slipped after missing the series against Bangladesh, the ICC said in a statement Sunday. He now trails top ranked AB de Villiers by 24 ratings points and second ranked Hashim Amla by three points.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (sixth) and opener Shikhar Dhawan (seventh) are the other India batsman featuring in the top 10.

For the West Indies, Darren Bravo (37th) is their highest-ranked batsman, while Lendl Simmons is in 40th position. Both will be looking to gain ground on their nearest competitors when the action gets underway Oct 8 in Kochi, followed by matches in Visakhapatnam (Oct 11), Cuttack (Oct 14), Kolkata (Oct 17) and Dharmasala (Oct 20).

In the ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja is India’s top ranked bowler in fifth spot, 13 points shy of England’s James Anderson. In Sunil Narine’s absence, 18th placed Kemar Roach is the West Indies top ranked bowler and he will be keen to progress up the leaderboard.

Jadeja also has a chance to climb the ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders as he currently sits in third place, five points off Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews.

Batsmen's rankings:

1. AB de Villiers (South Africa) 869 rating points
2. Hashim Amla (South Africa) 848
3. Virat Kohli (India) 845
4. George Bailey (Australia) 837
5. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 800
6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni 771
7. Shikhar Dhawan (India) 740
8. Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) 739
9. Quinton de Kock (South Africa) 720
10. Ross Taylor (New Zealand) 713

Bowlers

1. Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan) 782
2. Sunil Narine (West Indies) 764
3. Dale Steyn (South Africa) 712
4. James Anderson (England) 690
5. Ravindra Jadeja (India) 677
6. Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan) 657
7. Mitchell Johnson (Australia) 656
8. Clint McKay (Australia) 650
9. Ryan McLaren (South Africa) 646
10. Steven Finn (England) 640

All-rounders

1. Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan) 424
2. Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) 387
3. Ravindra Jadeja (India) 372
4. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) 361
5. Shane Watson (Australia) 320