Warner seals top spot in ODI rankings for first time

David Warner, who scored an aggressive 179 in the fifth One-Day International against Pakistan in Adelaide, has seized the top spot for the first time in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen, the International Cricket Council revealed on Friday (January 27). The Australian opener leapfrogged AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, the India captain, to secure the number one position, having a 19-point lead over the second-placed South Africa ODI skipper with a tally of 880 points.

Warner struck a 128-ball 179 and put on a record 284-run stand with Travis Head for the opening wicket to orchestrate Australia's 57-run win and helped his side to a 4-1 series win. The destructive left-hander has amassed 1755 runs in 28 matches since January 2016, stroking nine centuries. With the Champions Trophy coming up, he hopes to continue his good form in the 50-over format.

"It is a huge year for one-day cricket with the ICC Champions Trophy later this year and I am hoping I can take my good form into that tournament and help Australia lift the trophy for the third time," Warner said. "It is always a great honour and very nice to receive these accolades but from my perspective my job is to put our team into winning positions and I have been fortunate that I have been able to do that lately."

Head, who belted his maiden international ton in the same match, rose 42 places and settled in the 38th place. Meanwhile, Babar Azam, who struck a century in a losing cause in Adelaide, had some personal gains as he gained five positions and marked his maiden entry into the top 10. His teammate Sharjeel Khan, who amassed 250 runs in the five-match series also reached his career-high rank of 53.

Among the bowlers, Mitchell Starc gained two positions after taking nine wickets in the series, and is second behind only New Zealand's Trent Boult in the ICC ODI Rankings for bowlers. Josh Hazlewood, who bagged seven wickets, has also secured a career-high rank of five.

Pat Cummins, who took seven wickets in five ODIs, has also achieved his career-high ranking of 27 after jumping 22 positions. Imad Wasim didn't have the best of the outings in Australia, having picked up only four wickets, but managed to jump up 28 positions to 45, while Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali also made giant leaps.

With Pakistan losing the series, they haven't improved on their ODI rankings. At No 8 - two points behind Bangladesh and two points ahead of West Indies, they remain in danger of failing to qualify directly for the ICC World Cup 2019. Hosts England and the seven highest-ranked sides as on September 30, 2017 will qualify directly for the tournament.

India's middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav, who scored 232 runs and won the Man of the Series award in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against England which the hosts won 2-1, was the biggest gainer of the week as he jumped 57 spots to sit pretty on 47. England opener Jason Roy also made a strong climb with his fine show and broke through into the Top 20 for the first time.

Hardik Pandya, who played crucial knocks for India lower down the order, climbed 111 places to reach the 132nd spot with a career-best rating of 310 points. Even with the ball, despite taking only two wickets in three matches, gained 49 places and has moved to 122nd rank.

With the ball, England legspinner Adil Rashid dropped three spots to joint-eighth with Kagiso Rabada. Meanwhile, Chris Woakes, who bagged six wickets at an average of just less than 30, jumped four places to 18th position.

In team rankings, India leapfrogged New Zealand to No 3 while England remained at No 5.