Great news for Virat Kohli fans! The star senior Indian batter has jumped up to the No. 4 spot in the newest ICC rankings for ODI cricket. This big move happened after he hit a winning hundred against South Africa in the first ODI match held in Ranchi on Sunday.
Kohli was the Man of the Match for his outstanding performance in the first ODI. He scored his 52nd century in the 50-over format, hitting 135 runs off 120 balls. This brilliant knock was the key to India scoring a huge total of 349/8, eventually leading to a 17-run victory over South Africa.
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Spinner Kuldeep Yadav was a star with the ball, taking four important wickets, which helped him move up one place to No. 6 in the bowling rankings.
After this amazing century, Virat Kohli now has 751 ranking points. He is now only behind Rohit Sharma (who is still No. 1 with 783 points), New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell (766), and Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran (764). Kohli’s jump means he moved past Indian ODI captain Shubman Gill, who dropped to No. 5.
In the 2nd ODI, Virat Kohli immediately backed up his ranking boost with another stunning performance at Raipur on Wednesday. Kohli scored his 53rd ODI century (102 runs) in a brilliant partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad (105), helping India set a massive target of 359 runs (India 358/5).
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However, despite Kohli’s second consecutive ton, South Africa pulled off a spectacular chase, winning by 4 wickets to level the three-match series at 1-1.
The battle for the top spot is heating up with Virat Kohli in such fantastic form. Another Indian player, Shreyas Iyer, who is also recovering from an injury, stayed firm at the 9th position. The stage is now set for a thrilling decider in the final match of the series at Visakhapatnam.