De Villiers edges Kohli to go top in ODI rankings

India’s Virat Kohli was overthrown by AB de Villiers from the top spot of the latest ODI rankings for batsmen following India’s 0-2 series loss in South Africa.

India, in fact, dropped two ratings points but held on to the top spot with 120 ratings points despite the series loss in the three-match series, while South Africa continued to be in fifth place with 110 ratings points, with a gain of three points.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, remained static at sixth but Shikhar Dhawan slipped a rung to 10th, while Rohit Sharma found himself in the 18th position after losing three spots. Suresh Raina, who was 19th in the previous list, is now out of the top 20 list and is placed at 23rd.

In the bowling charts, Ravindra Jadeja was pushed to the 7th spot, a loss of four positions, while Ravichandran Ashwin ended up 17th after slipping three rungs.

For South Africa, leading the way is De Villiers, who had started the series in second spot behind India's Virat Kohli, trailing by 17 ratings points on the rankings for ODI batsmen.

But now the South African captain at 872 has not only regained the No 1 rank, he has also opened up a 13 ratings points lead over Kohli.

De Villiers, who scored 189 runs in three completed innings during the series, was the second highest run-getter in the series with a top score of 109 in the final match.

De Villiers, who was named in both the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year in 2013, now heads both the Test and ODI batting tables. De Villiers had also been shortlisted for the People's Choice Award this year.

De Villiers is the third batsman from South Africa after Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla to head the Test and ODI batting tables at the same time, and the ninth player overall. Amla achieved the distinction in February this year when he topped the charts after the Johannesburg Test against Pakistan.

Amla, on the other hand, has moved up a place to third in the batting list.

Meanwhile, South Africa's Quinton de Kock has made the biggest gain in the latest rankings following his three successive hundreds in the series, jumping 61 places to a career-best 14th with a best-ever 672 ratings points.

De Kock became only the fifth batsman in history to score three successive ODI hundreds, to thereby end as the highest run-getter in the series with 342 runs.

Outside the top 20, the batsmen to move up include JP Duminy in 24th (up by three), David Miller in 45th (up by 12) and Ravindra Jadeja in 71st (up by one).

Meanwhile, South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has continued his upward move in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. Steyn has moved up three positions to second after claiming six wickets in the two ODIs that he played.

Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal continues to stay in to-spot in the rankings for ODI bowlers.

The other two South Africa bowlers inside the top 10 are Lonwabo Tsotsobe in eighth (up by two) and Morne Morkel in ninth.

Ryan McLaren has entered the top 20 of the bowling ranking for the first time, as he moved up two places to sit in 20th.

Outside the top 20, the bowlers to advance up the rankings include Mohammed Shami in 43rd (up by seven) and Ishant Sharma in 51st (up by 16).