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Rohit Sharma has become the No. 1-ranked ODI batter following his innings of 73 and 121 not out in the second and third games in the series in Australia, which India lost 2-1.The two knocks took Rohit up from third spot to the top for the first time in his career after being in the top ten for large periods over the past decade. The century, in particular, boosted Rohit’s points and took him past Ibrahim Zadran and Shubman Gill.Rohit wasn’t the only India cricketer to gain after the three-ODI series in Australia, with Axar Patel rewarded for a strong all-round performance. He took a wicket in each of the three ODIs and chipped in with scores of 31 and 44 in the first and second games. That took him up six places on the bowlers’ table to No. 31, and up four spots to No. 8 on the allrounders’ table.

Full rankings tables

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Within the respective top tens, Mitchell Santner moved up three rungs to fourth place following the first two ODIs against England, and Josh Hazlewood moved up two spots to eighth among the bowlers.Elsewhere, following the shared two-Test series between Pakistan and South Africa, Keshav Maharaj gained nine places to a career-high rating, and the 13th place, on the bowlers’ list. While Maharaj picked up nine wickets in the only Test he played, his team-mate Simon Harmer had 13 wickets from the two Tests and moved up 26 spots to No. 45.For South Africa, Aiden Markram (up two spots to 15th) and Tony de Zorzi (up seven places to joint 47th) also gained on the Test batters’ table.

Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai struck half-centuries each to carry Afghanistan to 188 for 6 in the opening match of the men’s T20 Asia Cup. Hong Kong had their moments, their spinners in particular harnessing slow conditions well enough to frustrate their more pedigreed opponents. But the gulf in class eventually showed as Yasin Murtaza’s side dropped catches and committed misfields to hurt their own chances.Sediqullah has brought up each of this three T20I fifties in his last four innings, and as well as he looked out in the middle, standing tall at the crease and largely coping with the lack of pace, he benefited from three missed chances. A man who could’ve been dismissed in the very first over in the end batted through to finish on 73 off 52.Murtaza was involved in all three lives Sediqullah got – twice dropping the catch himself and once having to watch it go down off his own bowling. He did the best he could to make up for it, the three Hong Kong spinners giving the ball such little pace but so much air that this game looked straight out of the 90s. As such, the more modern day T20 batter wasn’t able to adjust. Murtaza, Ehsan Khan and Kinchit Shah picked up 3 for 75 in 11 overs.However, the arrival of pace in the 17th over changed the game with Atal and Omarzai targeting Ayush Shukla. Afghanistan scored 69 runs in the last four overs with Omarzai raising his first T20I half-century. From the simple clear-the-front-leg slog to the cheeky ramp past the keeper, the Afghanistan allrounder has shown impressive range on a difficult batting pitch and finished with a strike rate of 252.38.Should Hong Kong chase the target down, it would be their highest successful T20I chase.

West Indies have made three changes to their T20I squad for the upcoming series against Pakistan after the 5-0 defeat to Australia: Shamar Joseph, Alick Athanaze and Johnson Charles have come in for Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer. The three-T20I series against Pakistan starts on Thursday at Lauderdale.Evin Lewis is still out injured while Keacy Carty, who was called in as cover during the series against Australia, retained his spot. King and Hetmyer were in good form against Australia but picked up side strains in the final T20I in Basseterre. Alzarri, meanwhile, was rested.Related

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The injuries to King and Hetmyer are a concern for West Indies. They were the only batters in the side apart from captain Shai Hope to score more than 100 runs in the five matches against Australia.Charles, 36, will likely slot in for King at the top of the order. Athanaze, meanwhile, is likely to fill in for Hetmyer in the middle. Shamar is expected to be a like-for-like replacement for Alzarri.

West Indies squad for Pakistan T20Is

Shai Hope (capt), Jewel Andrew, Alick Athanaze, Jediah Blades, Keacy Carty, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd

India captain Shubman Gill has said his team was “pretty confident” of taking the remaining four wickets on the final morning at The Oval to square the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series.Late rain on day four dragged the game into the fifth day, leaving England needing 35 runs and India four wickets. Mohammed Siraj picked up three of the four to seal a stunning win.”Yeah, we were pretty confident,” Gill said at the post-match presentation. “Even yesterday, we knew that they [England] are a little bit under pressure. We just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout. Pressure makes everyone do things that they don’t want to, and we just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout.Related

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“I think the way both the teams played in the entire series, every day coming on day four, day five, and never really knowing which team is going to win… it shows that both the teams came up with their A game and very happy to get over the line in this one.”Joe Root had said that the use of a heavy roller would benefit England on the fifth morning, but Siraj and Prasidh Krishna worked in tandem to give no respite to Jamie Smith and the tail.”When bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh are bowling like that then 35 runs is also too much,” Gill said at the post-match press conference. “As a batsman, you are under pressure as you feel the ball is doing something and it takes just one ball. And that is what we were reminding them about frequently. If the conditions are like this and the momentum is with you, then 30-35 runs is enough, then you know it is a matter of one or two balls falling in the right place and the game will get over there and then.”Gill said that India never thought about taking the second new ball, considering the movement both his strike bowlers had been getting since day four. “Also, we had the wicket-taking option on this wicket,” Gill said. “If they had to make the runs, they would need to score boundaries. We knew they were under pressure because in such a position the batting team is under pressure because it is matter of one ball.”Having been left heartbroken after he was the last man dismissed in the Lord’s Test last month, Siraj finished the game this time with the ball, when his pinpoint yorker uprooted Gus Atkinson’s off stump. Siraj put in a big shift, with his 30.1 overs in the fourth innings bringing him five wickets.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Yes, definitely, he’s a captain’s dream”, Gill said of Siraj. “Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out, and every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in our team.”While Siraj won the Player-of-the-Match award, Gill was chosen as India’s Player of the Series by the opposition coach Brendon McCullum for his chart-topping 754 runs in ten innings at an average of 75.40. Gill’s series aggregate is the second-highest for a captain behind Don Bradman’s 810 against England in the 1936-37 Ashes. No other batter has scored more runs in a series between England and India, going past Graham Gooch’s 752 runs in 1990.”Feels very rewarding,” Gill said. “I worked pretty hard before the start of the series. There were certain things that I wanted to work on as a batsman, and it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series. And to be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and very rewarding.”I think once you are sorted mentally, you would be in a good space. But you’re only sorted mentally when you’re feeling technically correct. So, I think they’re both kind of correlated. If you feel like you’re getting in good positions, you’re always mentally more stable.”3:49

Bangar: Series result proves India is growing in stature

‘We want to be looked as a gun team’

Having started the new WTC cycle with a series-levelling win, India are currently third on the table with 28 points in five matches. “This series was very important for us because the kind of maturity every player would feel [at] the end of the series would really help us in the long run in this WTC cycle,” Gill said.Asked if he would have felt the same had England chased the target, Gill admitted that his “feelings would definitely be slightly different”.”I think the scorecard of the series could not have really depicted what kind of cricket we played,” he said. “But this scorecard of the series that we have right now really shows how both teams played. This win was important for us to be able to get that morale high, especially after the kind of cricket that we have played over the course of two months.”When Gill’s India had landed in the United Kingdom in June, there were several questions asked – whether his team had the experience and the personnel to challenge Ben Stokes’ men. Two months later, India depart with the series shared. Gill credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for building the confidence of the team.”At the start of the series Gauti [Gambhir] said: ‘yes, we are a young team, but we don’t want to be looked as a young team; we want to be looked as a gun team’. And the way we played it today showed us that why we are a gun team, and we have gun players like him [Siraj] in our team and that’s what makes this team so special.”

A fairly low-profile tri-series in Zimbabwe continues to bring a number of high moments for Ish Sodhi. In New Zealand’s opening game, he made his 200th international appearance and then he marked his 201st appearance by becoming the third player to 150 wickets in men’s T20Is after Tim Southee and Rashid Khan. Along the way, Sodhi, 32, bagged his career-best T20I figures of 4 for 12 against Zimbabwe in the lead-up to the final against South Africa.Sodhi is uncontracted – young legspinner Adithya Ashok pipped him and earned his maiden deal – but he certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by new coach Rob Walter. In the final, Sodhi is set to tick off another landmark: New Zealand’s most capped T20I player. He’s currently level with Southee on 126 T20Is.Related

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A numbers man, Sodhi is savouring every high. “It’s really nice. I’m really proud of the achievement. To get 150 wickets in a format for your country, obviously you have to play for a long period of time to be able to do that. It’s something I’m really proud of and hopefully there’s a lot more on the bank.”On Thursday, Sodhi also took a moment to reflect on his early years. Born in India, Sodhi moved to Auckland with his parents when he was a child. After impressing Daniel Vettori during an Auckland playing trial he broke into the New Zealand squad when he was 20. He has since become a key player for New Zealand, especially in white-ball cricket.”It has been an incredible journey,” Sodhi said. “I think something came out of the other, I think I debuted in 2013. I think my first ODI was here in Harare. It’s nice to be here and still being able to perform for New Zealand. Hopefully it’s something I can still do for a time to come.”Contracted or not, Sodhi is eager to play for New Zealand and win games for them. Having been thrown a lifeline by Walter, Sodhi could form a potent partnership with captain Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell as New Zealand tune up for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.”There’s always incentive to win games for your country, I like playing international cricket,” Sodhi said. “Growing up, it’s the only thing I ever wanted to do and I think it’s probably the same for all the guys that are in there now. International cricket is really special. You pop the fern on, certainly things you dreamed of in the backyard growing up playing. Any game for New Zealand, there’s always motivation out there to be playing your best.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean was a forgettable one for Sodhi and New Zealand. In spin-friendly conditions, Sodhi sat out three of New Zealand’s four games, but in the lead-up to the next World Cup, he’s trying to reinvent himself. On Thursday, he fronted up to bowl in the powerplay – after Zimbabwe had run away to 21 for 0 – and claimed figures of 2-0-5-3 during this phase. Sodhi had also operated in the powerplay against South Africa in New Zealand’s series opener. This tri-series is the first time since 2021 that Sodhi has bowled in the powerplay in T20Is and it’s a role he relishes playing for the Black Caps.”It’s quite a new role for me and I haven’t bowled a lot in the powerplay in my career,” Sodhi said. “So, this is a really strong New Zealand side nowadays, so trying to get into the side and almost have to learn to be able to bowl in the powerplay. So, it’s really nice it could come off as it is relatively a new role. I’m trying to play for New Zealand and yeah to get some wickets was quite pleasing and it shows me I can do it at this level and yeah something I want to keep building.”Sodhi also delivered a glowing appraisal of Tim Seifert, who is currently the leading run-getter in the tri-series, with 166 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 145.61. Sodhi believes that Seifert has become a more versatile and dangerous batter after playing franchise T20 cricket around the world. In the lead-up to the tri-series, Seifert was part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL and San Francisco Unicorns in the MLC, and his next franchise assignment is with CPL champions St Lucia Kings.”Yeah, look Seife is incredible,” Sodhi said. “I’ve sort of seen him come through when he was 18 years old playing cricket in all the districts he came through. A lot of talent, hit the ball really nice and cleanly. But I think the product of franchise cricket that’s made him such a good player is that he’s been able to play on surfaces that aren’t actually that great for batting.”If you look at that surface out there, it wasn’t the truest of surfaces but to score at the rate that he did shows great growth in his game. It shows that he’s rallied around a lot of great players all around the world in the franchise tournaments that he’s played and it’s making him a lot better player. It’s a huge asset for New Zealand cricket the way that he’s playing and he’s still so young.”The way he’s batting is showing a lot of leadership. He’s leading from the front and it’s great to see him being in my shoes having seen him come through when he was an 18, 19-year-old. It’s brilliant to see.”