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POST Asia Cup, Rohit Sharma & Kuldeep Yadav Improve Rankings

Rohit Gurunath Sharma, Indian international cricketer hailing from Maharashtra and Kanpur born Kuldeep Yadav from Uttar Pradesh have  gone up in the  ranks of  ODI players  after their  spectacular performance in the just concluded Asia Cup Tournament at Dubai. Rohit is the vice-captain of the India national team in limited-overs formats. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional right-arm off break bowler. Rohit led India to their seventh Asia Cup triumph last week .He has gained two spots in the rankings for one-day international batsmen. The Indian opener is now at No.2 on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen, only behind his captain Virat Kohli on the list. The right-hander scored 317 runs in five innings in the competition, scoring one century and two half-centuries for a batting average of 105.66. With 10 wickets in six games, Kuldeep Yadav climbed three spots to sit at No.3 on the list, his best-ever rank with his career-best points – 700.The other Indian to make massive gains after the triumphant campaign in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is Ravindra Jadeja, who marked his comeback to the ODI team with seven wickets for not too many in four outings. He moved up 14 places to No.39J.Jasprit Bumrah retained his spot at the summit of rankings for bowlers. The pacer was in brilliant form throughout the Asia Cup, especially in the death overs, where he did not concede a single boundary in more than nine overs. With eight wickets in four games, he was the fourth-leading wicket-taker of the tournament. Rashid Khan, who picked up the most wickets in the competition, moved up to No.1 in the all-rounders’ list and held on to his spot behind Bumrah among the bowler. 

 Opener Rohit Sharma, who led his team to Asia Cup title in the absence of top-ranked Virat Kohli, on Sunday, climbed two places up to a career-best second position to make it a 1-2 for India in the ICC ODI batting rankings. This is for the second time that Sharma is in second position, having first reached number two in July this year. He aggregated 317 runs in the tournament, which India won by beating Bangladesh in the final by three wickets. Shikhar Dhawan, who was highest run-getter with 342 runs, gained four slots to reach fifth position. The pair was rested in India’s last Super Four match which ended in a tie against Afghanistan but still led the run aggregate, thanks largely to a 210-run partnership in the Super Four match against Pakistan in which Sharma slammed an unbeaten 111 and Dhawan scored 114.Another India player to gain in the rankings table is spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has advanced three places to take a career-best third position after finishing as the joint-highest wicket taker along with Bangladesh’s fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman and Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, all of who finished with 10 wickets each.Rashid has displaced former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan from the top of the all-rounders’ list. He has become the first from his country and 32nd overall to reach top position in the list with a jump of six places.Rashid’s success with the ball saw him cross the 800-point mark during the tournament, which saw in action five of the 10 teams to fight it out in next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup, and he also chipped in with 87 runs to reach a career-best 97th position among batsmen.Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad has gained 19 slots to reach 36th position, his highest in two years, while spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has gained 15 slots to reach eighth position.For Bangladesh, wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has attained a career-best 16th position, while Liton Das has advanced 107 positions to reach 116th rank after his fine century in the final. Mustafizur has moved up four places to take 12th position among bowlers.Pakistan left-hander Imam-ul-Haq has gained 15 places to reach a career-best 27th position while Shoaib Malik has gained 12 slots to reach 42nd position. Junaid Khan has gained seven slots to reach 30th position among bowlers.For Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga has gained two positions to reach 41st rank while Hong Kong captain Anshuman Rath’s knock of 73 against India has led him to 55th position with 532 points, the highest ever points tally for a Hong Kong batsman.Rath’s opening partner Nizakat Khan has gained 28 slots to reach a career-best 78th rank.In the ICC ODI Team rankings, there is no change in positions in the list led by England, who are followed by India, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. However, India have gained one point and Afghanistan five. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have lost three points each.

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