Imran Tahir’s performances at the World Cup has seen him soar on the ICC’s ODI rankings, while AB de Villiers has solidified his place as the number one batsman in the world.
Wrist spinner Tahir, Australia paceman Mitchell Starc and Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan have all achieved career-best rankings.
Tahir has jumped seven places to fourth following his nine wickets in three matches, Starc has gained two places to fifth following his eight wickets in two matches and Irfan’s five wickets have given him a place inside the top 10 in 10th place following a rise of six places.
The latest rankings, released on Monday, confirm Tahir’s importance to the South African bowling attack, and he will be keen to continue his good form when the Proteas meet Ireland in Canberra on Tuesday.
The batting table is headed by De Villiers, who leads second-ranked Kumar Sangakkara and Hashim Amla by 49 ratings points. De Villiers with 217 runs is sixth in the list of leading run-getters in the tournament to date and is just two ratings points short of becoming only the 11th batsman to break the 900-point barrier since the introduction of the current ODI player rankings system.
West Indies’ Chris Gayle with 258 runs is second on the list of top run-scorers for which he has been rewarded with a leap of five places that, in turn, has put him in 52nd place along with Afghanistan’s Samiullah Shenwari (up by 12 places).
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and South Africa’s David Miller are the biggest movers in the latest rankings.
McCullum has jumped 10 places to 18th following his 207 runs in four matches to date, while Miller has moved up 14 places to 23rd as his three innings have yielded 180 runs to date.
Australia remain the number one ODI team on 120 points, followed by India (116) and South Africa (113).
ODI batting rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Ave |
| 1 | (-) | AB de Villiers | SA | 898 | 52.93 |
| 2= | (+2) | Kumar Sangakarra | SL | 849 | 41.55 |
| (-) | Hashim Amla | SA | 849 | 55.68 | |
| 4 | (-1) | Virat Kohli | Ind | 847 | 52.17 |
| 5 | (+1) | T. Dilshan | SL | 798 | 39.46 |
| 6 | (-1) | Kane Williamson | NZ | 789 | 47.29 |
| 7 | (-) | Shikar Dhawan | Ind | 784 | 44.59 |
| 8 | (+4) | Aaron Finch | Aus | 734 | 38.92 |
| 9 | (+1) | George Bailey | Aus | 718 | 42.02 |
| 10 | (-2) | MS Dhoni | Ind | 712 | 51.86 |
ODI bowling rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Ave |
| 1 | (-) | Saeed Ajmal | Pak | 733 | 22.18 |
| 2 | (-) | Sunil Narine | WI | 719 | 26.49 |
| 3 | (-) | Dale Steyn | SA | 708 | 25.58 |
| 4 | (+7) | Imran Tahir | SA | 703 | 19.40 |
| 5 | (+2) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 687 | 19.89 |
| 6 | (-1) | Mitchell Johnson | Aus | 667 | 25.73 |
| 7= | (-3) | James Anderson | Eng | 663 | 29.31 |
| (-1) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 663 | 28.15 | |
| 9 | (+5) | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 647 | 31.82 |
| 10 | (+6) | Mohammed Irfan | Pak | 641 | 29.64 |
