ICC Rankings: Impressive Daryl Mitchell topples Virat Kohli to take top spot for ODI batters

New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell toppled India’s Virat Kohli to gain a spot in the ICC ODI batter’s ranking on Wednesday (Jan 21) in the latest announcement. Mitchell, who was named Player of the Series against India in the recently concluded ODI series, slammed two hundreds while missing out on another, giving a fine account of himself. Mitchell’s exploits saw New Zealand win the ODI series 2-1, while he has now been rewarded on a personal note for his performance.

Daryl Mitchell takes top spot

On the back of some impressive batting performances spanning from the Australia tour to the New Zealand ODIs at home put Virat at the top after over four years, but Mitchell, who registered back-to-back centuries to seal Kiwis' first-ever ODI series win in India and became the 'Player of the Series' with 352 runs in three matches, removed Virat from the top of the charts with two centuries he would cherish for a lifetime.

ALSO READ | From Chris Gayle to Brendon McCullum, 5 batters to score fastest T20 World Cup hundreds

Virat was the second-highest run-getter in the series, with 240 runs, including 93 in the first ODI and a valiant 124 in 108 balls at Indore during a tough run-chase of 338 runs. While Virat's efforts throughout the series took fans back to his days of dominance from 2016-19, it was not enough to give India a series win and him more time at the top spot.

With 845 rating points, Mitchell clears Virat (795 points), who is dropped to the second spot. The Kiwi would get to hold on to the top ranking for more time, with loads of T20I action coming up, including the T20 World Cup. His previous reign as the numero uno was cut short for just three days when he was surpassed by Rohit during November following a 'Player of the Series' effort in Australia, which produced 202 runs, including 121* at Sydney.

ALSO READ | Meet Indians to score most runs in each of last 5 T20 World Cups ft Virat Kohli

Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran (third, 764 ranking points) swaps spots with India's Rohit Sharma (fourth, 757). Despite his two fifties, Indian skipper Shubman Gill is in fifth. Glenn Phillips, who scored a quickfire 106 in the ODI series finale, made a 16-spot jump to number 20th.

Phillips also rose 14 spots to equal-31st on the list for ODI all-rounders, where Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai reigns supreme.