DUBAI: India stalwart Virat Kohli is only 32 rating points away from overtaking his teammate Rohit Sharma to lead the ODI batting rankings after he scored his 83rd international century to rise in the ICC Rankings update released on Wednesday.
In the first ODI of India's three-match series against South Africa in Ranchi, Kohli, 37, scored an impressive 135 off 120 balls. His performance elevated him one place, now ranking fourth among ODI batters in the latest ICC Men's Player Rankings.
This brings Kohli's rating up to 751 points, placing him just 32 points behind teammate Rohit Sharma at the top of the ODI batter rankings. Kohli was the leading batter for over three years towards the end of the last decade but has not held the top spot since Pakistan's Babar Azam overtook him in April 2021.
Meanwhile, Rohit extended his lead at the top, surpassing second-placed Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand and Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran in third, while Kohli moved ahead of his teammate Shubman Gill to claim the fourth position, closing the gap on the former India captain at the top.