Kohli closes in on top ranking, Pakistan star returns to No. 1

INDIA star Virat Kohli is just 32 rating points off holding top spot for ODI batters after the India star scored his 83rd international century to rise in the latest ICC Men's Player Rankings.

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Kohli contributed a magnificent 135 from just 120 deliveries in the opening match of India's three-match ODI series against South Africa in Ranchi and the 37-year old rose one spot to fourth overall on the latest rankings for ODI batters as a result.

That sees Kohli improve his rating to 751 points, with the right-hander now just 32 rating points adrift of teammate Rohit Sharma at the top of the rankings for ODI batters.

Kohli was the No. 1 ranked batter for a prolonged period of more than three years towards the end of the last decade, but hasn't held the premier position since Pakistan's Babar Azam displaced him at the top in April 2021.

Rohit increased his lead at the top on second-placed Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand and Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran in third, with Kohli moving past teammate Shubman Gill and into fourth to make inroads on the former India captain at the top.