India’s Test captain Shubman Gill remained at the top of the ICC ODI rankings for batters while Shreyas Iyer was the only other Indian in the top 10 after the latest update. Rohit Sharma was in the second place while Virat Kohli had acquired the fourth spot in the update on August 13.
West Indies skipper Shai Hope catapulted a couple of spots in the latest ICC Rankings for batters in the ODIs after a scintillating ton in the series decider against Pakistan as he jumped to the seventh spot. Hope’s rise meant that Ibrahim Zadran and Kusal Mendis dropped a place each to eighth and ninth, respectively. However, there were a couple of notable omissions from the top 10 in the form of senior Indian batters – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Rohit, who had jumped to No.2 last week after Babar Azam’s poor series in the West Indies, wasn’t there in the top 100 names for the batters, while Kohli, who stayed in fourth spot, too, was missing. It was a disappearance, not even a demotion down the rankings. Apart from Shubman Gill (No 1) and Shreyas Iyer (No 6), only KL Rahul was the other Indian batter in the top 20 in the latest ICC rankings.
The fans and users on social media wondered if it was just a technical glitch, an honest mistake, or if there was something more to it, especially since both Kohli and Rohit are active in just one format in international cricket.
However, it was a technical glitch, a news welcomed by the fans wholeheartedly. Even though Rohit and Kohli’s names were missing from the Top 10, the player profile section showed the rankings for both the players. Later on, the ICC rankings too got back to normal but with the last updated rankings which didn’t show any possible movement for names like Shai Hope, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, who did well with the bat in the ODIs during the week.
Are these disappearances normal?
Technical glitches and disappearances have both happened in the past with respect to the ICC rankings and the latter more so, but by rules. The ICC publishes the rankings from No. 1-100 every week and the changes thereof depending upon the performances of players in the top 100 or outside it. However, if the players haven’t played for their respective sides for 12-15 months for Tests and 9-12 months for ODIs and T20Is, as per the qualifying period in the ICC’s rulebook, the player can be removed.
Similarly, it is the case with the player retirements. If a player retires, his name gradually disappears from the rankings. Since Kohli and Rohit have both called it a day from the Tests and T20Is, the speculations with respect to their retirement from ODIs have been pretty rife since the England series and their brief disappearance from the rankings only fuelled them further.ย