New Delhi, India
Jasprit Bumrah has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the latest ICC Men's ODI Rankings for bowlers following his splendid show for Team India in their mammoth ten-wicket win over England in the three-match series opener, held on Tuesday (July 12) at The Oval, London.
Bumrah returned with his best-ever ODI bowling figures, taking 6 for 19 (second five-fer in the format overall), and also ended with the best-ever bowling spell in the format by an Indian in England. With this, he has reclaimed the top spot, which he had lost to New Zealand pacer Trent Boult in early 2020. He has been at the numero uno position for as many as 730 days, most by an Indian, ninth-most overall.
Along with Bumrah, Md Shami (3 for 31), Rohit Sharma (58-ball 76 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (31* off 54 balls) also stood tall for India in their ten-wicket hammering of England. Thus, Shami has also progressed three slots to reach the joint-23rd position, with teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Rohit has, meanwhile, closed the gap with third-ranked Virat Kohli in the batting chart, with only one rating point separating the two, as Dhawan inched up one slot to 12th position.
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After his Player-of-the-Match performance, Bumrah said at the post-match presentation, "When there's swing and seam movement, it is very exciting in white-ball cricket to get that opportunity because you have to be defensive with the kind of pitches we usually get. When I bowled the first ball, I found some swing and we tried to exploit that. When it doesn't swing, I have to pull my lengths back. When the ball is doing something you don't have to try a lot. When the wicket is flat your accuracy is tested. It is a good place to be when the ball is swinging. As soon as Shami bowled the first over, we had a conversation to go fuller. Very happy for him, he gets a lot of wickets. I told him when he beats the bat, that there would be days when he'd run through the side. When the ball is moving around, the keeper and the cordon is very active. Very happy that Rishabh has been working hard on his keeping as well as his batting."
Meanwhile, Indian captain, Rohit stated, "Looking at the overhead conditions and the pitch, the toss was a right call to make. We used the conditions upfront really well. We never worry about the conditions because we have got the guys who can just come out and use those conditions. There was some swing and seam upfront and we exploited them well. When you play in such conditions, you have to understand the assistance and have field placements accordingly. We knew our bowlers could swing the ball both ways and hence had that kind of field."
In the ODI Rankings for teams, India are at the third spot, below top-ranked New Zealand and second-positioned England.