*DUBAI – Virat Kohli becomes the second batsman to cross 900-point mark inboth Tests and ODIs; Rashid shares top spot with Bumrah amongst bowlers.*

⦁ India captain becomes only the second batsman to cross the 900-point markconcurrently in Tests and ODIs

⦁ Rashid Khan and Jasprit Bumrah take joint-top position among bowlers;Rashid also moves into top-five among all-rounders

Virat Kohli’s prolific run with the bat has helped him attain the rare featof crossing the 900-point mark in both Tests and ODIs after the latestupdate in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankingslink>, which alsosaw Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and India pace bowler JaspritBumrah take the joint-top position among bowlers.

Kohli has become only the second batsman after South Africa’s AB deVilliers to attain the 900-point mark concurrently in both forms of thegame and one among only five to have crossed 900 points in both forms ofthe game as he consolidated his top position with 558 runs in the 5-1series win over South Africa, during which he slammed three centuries.[image: Rashid Khan attained his career-best ranking in ODIs]Rashid Khan attained his career-best ranking in ODIs

Kohli has thus moved ahead of Brian Lara in the all-timers’ list, havingalso overtaken him in the all-timers’ Test list last month. Kohli is nowseventh in the ODI list of all-time rankings that is led by Vivian Richardswith 935 points and the India captain is now a good 22 points clear ofSachin Tendulkar, whose ODI career high of 887 points came against Zimbabwein January 1998. Kohli’s aggregate is the best since Brian Lara reached 908points in March 1993.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who aggregated 323 runs in the South Africaseries, is another notable gainer in the latest rankings even as a clutchof Indian bowlers made rapid strides in the latest rankings, including thewrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Leg-spinner Chahal has moved up 21 slots to eighth position with 16 wicketsin the South Africa series while Chinaman bowler Yadav’s 17 scalps havehelped him move up 47 places to take the 15th position. Pace bowler JaspritBumrah’s eight wickets have lifted him two places to take the joint-firstposition.

Rashid has joined Bumrah at the top with 16 wickets in the series againstZimbabwe which Afghanistan won 4-1 to become the youngest to attain topranking. His 51 runs in two innings in the series, including a brisk 43 inthe final match in Sharjah on Monday, has also helped him break into thetop-five in the list of all-rounders while he has also moved up 11 slots totake 114th place among batsmen.[image: Bumrah shares top spot in the bowling rankings with Rashid Khan]Bumrah shares top spot in the bowling rankings with Rashid Khan

Other Afghanistan players to gain in the latest rankings include batsmenRahmat Shah (up 39 places to 42nd), Javed Ahmadi (up 18 places to 83rd) andNajibullah Zadran (up 23 places to 93rd) and off-spin bowler Mohammad Nabi(up seven places to 11th).

For South Africa, Faf du Plessis’ 120-run knock in the first ODI againstIndia, after which he was ruled out due to an injury, has seen him gain oneslot to reach eight position.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan have overtaken Zimbabwe in the MRF Tyres ICC ODITeam Rankings. Afghanistan have gained four points to take the 10thposition with 55 points while Zimbabwe have lost three points to be on 50points.

*New Zealand v England series*

Meanwhile, England and New Zealand feature in a five-match ODI seriesstarting on 25 February at Hamilton, with the home side having the chanceto overtake the opposition by winning the series 3-2. A 3-2 series win willhelp New Zealand overtake England on decimal points while both teams canreach the second position with a 5-0 win.

Series scenarios:

⦁ New Zealand beats England 5-0: New Zealand 119 points; England 113 points

⦁ New Zealand beats England 4-1: New Zealand 117 points; England 114 points

⦁ New Zealand beats England 3-2: New Zealand 116 points (ahead ondecimals); England 116

⦁ England beats New Zealand 3-2: England 117 points; New Zealand 114 points

⦁ England beats New Zealand 4-1: England 119 points; New Zealand 113 points

⦁ England beats New Zealand 5-0; England 120 points; New Zealand 111 points

*Series itinerary*

*England v New Zealand:*

25 February: 1st ODI, Hamilton

28 February: 2nd ODI, Tauranga

3 March: 3rd ODI, Wellington

7 March: 4th ODI, Dunedin

10 March: 5th ODI, Christchurch

*MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 20 February, after India v SouthAfrica and Afghanistan v Zimbabwe series):*Rank Team Points1. India 123 (+4)2. South Africa 117 (-4)3. England 1164. New Zealand 1155. Australia 1126. Pakistan 967. Bangladesh 908. Sri Lanka 849. Windies 7610. Afghanistan 55 (+4)11. Zimbabwe 50 (-3)12. Ireland 40

*MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 20 February, after India v SouthAfrica and Afghanistan v Zimbabwe series):*

*BATSMEN (top 20)**Rank* *(+/-)* *Player* *Team* *Points* *Avge* *Highest Rating* 1 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 909! 58.10 909 v SA at Centurion 2018 2 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 844 53.50 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015 3 ( – ) David Warner Aus 823 43.43 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017 4 (+1) Babar Azam Pak 813 51.11 846 v NZ at Wellington 2018 5 (+1) Joe Root Eng 808 50.91 818 v Aus at Brisbane 2018 6 (-2) Rohit Sharma Ind 799 44.55 825 v SL at Mohali 2017 7 (-1) Quinton de Kock SA 783 45.41 808 v Ban at East London 2017 8 (+1) Faf du Plessis SA 782 44.68 802 v Ind at Durban 2018 9 (-1) Kane Williamson NZ 777 46.51 798 v SA at Centurion 2015 10 (+4) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 769 45.90 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015 11 ( – ) Martin Guptill NZ 764 43.75 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017 12 (-2) Hashim Amla SA 746 50.23 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012 13 (-1) Ross Taylor NZ 736 44.92 743 v Pak at Dunedin 2018 14 (+1) Aaron Finch Aus 724 38.55 743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015 15 (-2) MS Dhoni Ind 717 51.37 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009 16 ( – ) Tamim Iqbal Ban 698 34.98 721 v Zim at Mirpur 2018 17 ( – ) Steve Smith Aus 692 41.84 752 v Pak at Sydney 2017 18 ( – ) Jos Buttler Eng 656 37.63 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2016 19 ( – ) Mushfiqur Rahim Ban 652 32.99 671 v Zim at Mirpur 2015 20 ( – ) Jason Roy Eng 645 37.84 672 v Aus at Melbourne 2018

*BOWLERS (top 20)**Rank* *(+/-)* *Player* * Team* * Points* * Avge* *HighestRating*1= (+8) Rashid Khan Afg 787*! 13.26 787 v Zim at Sharjah 2018 (+2) Jasprit Bumrah Ind 787*! 22.50 787 v SA at Centurion 2018 3 (-1) Trent Boult NZ 729 24.27 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016 4 ( – ) J. Hazlewood Aus 714 24.27 733 v Eng at Adelaide 2018 5 ( – ) Hasan Ali Pak 711* 21.40 766 v NZ at Wellington 2018 6 (-5) Imran Tahir SA 683 24.81 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017 7 (-1) Kagiso Rabada SA 679 27.57 724 v Eng at Lord’s 2017 8 (+21) Y. Chahal Ind 667*! 21.83 667 v SA at Centurion 2018 9 (-2) Mitchell Santner NZ 662 ! 32.03 662 v Pak at Wellington 2018 10 (-2) Mitchell Starc Aus 658 20.95 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015 11 (+7) Mohammad Nabi Afg 646 31.74 653 v Zim at Harare 2017 12 (-1) Sunil Narine Win 636 26.46 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013 13 (-1) Adil Rashid Eng 632 31.78 655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016 14 (-1) Chris Woakes Eng 630 31.83 651 v SA at Headingley 2017 15 (+47) Kuldeep Yadav Ind 628* 20.02 637 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2018 16 (-6) Akshar Patel Ind 624* 31.31 663 v Aus at Nagpur 2017 17 (-3) Pat Cummins Aus 623 28.45 626 v Eng at Adelaide 2018 18 (-3) Matt Henry NZ 621 24.59 675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016 19 (-2) Liam Plunkett Eng 616 30.22 646 v Win at Southampton 2017 20 (-1) M. Rahman Ban 601* 19.19 602 v Zim at Mirpur 2018

*ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)**Rank* *(+/-)* *Player* *Team* *Points* *Highest Rating* 1 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 360 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009 2 ( – ) M. Hafeez Pak 339 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013 3 ( – ) M. Nabi Afg 332 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017 4 (+11) Rashid Khan Afg 311*/*! 311 v Zim at Sharjah 2018 5 (-1) A. Mathews SL 306 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014