Virat Kohli soars to career-best ranking after Vizag hundred

South Africa opener Hashim Alma and India batsman Virat Kohli achieved career-best rankings to date in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.

Amla, who scored 110, 110 and 24 in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, climbed two places to share second position with Australia batsman Mike Hussey, who moved up one position after scoring 69 in the only completed ODI against India in Visakhapatnam last week.

Amla's rise means South Africa now has two of its top-order batsmen inside the top three with AB de Villiers, who earlier this month won the ICC ODI Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Bengaluru, firmly holding the top position.

De Villiers, who scored 21, 101 not out and 109 against Zimbabwe, achieved his career-best rating of 820.

He is the 44th batsman overall and fifth South African after Gary Kirsten (903 v Australia, 19 October 1996), Hansie Cronje (836 v New Zealand, 11 December 1994), Lance Klusener (829 v Zimbabwe, 28 September 1999) and Daryll Cullinan (809 v Pakistan, 2 November 1997) to achieve the 800-point mark, which in ranking terms, is the benchmark for every batsman in ODI cricket.

Making big strides in the latest rankings, which were updated after the end of India-Australia, South Africa- Zimbabwe and Bangladesh-New Zealand series, are Kohli and Bangladesh batsman Shakib Al Hasan.

Kohli, who scored a match-winning 118 against Australia in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam, rocketed 11 places into 13th position which makes him the fourth highest-ranked India batsman after Mahendra Singh Dhoni (fourth, down by two places), Virender Sehwag (seventh, up by one place) and Sachin Tendulkar (eighth, up by two places).

The 21-year-old Kohli was struggling with cramps and had to bat with a runner, but that did not stop him from playing a cracker of an innings.

Shakib, who was the leading run-getter in the series against New Zealand with 213 runs (including a century and a half-century) vaulted 15 places and is placed just outside the top 20 in 26th position.

Also moving in the right direction are Michael Clarke in 14th (up by three places), Cameron White in 21st (up by five places), Suresh Raina in 24th (up by three places), JP Duminy in 29th (up by seven places) and Imrul Kayes in 56th (up by 27 places).

Apart from Dhoni, batsmen losing ground in the latest rankings include Jacques Kallis in 10th (down by three places), Graeme Smith in 16th (down by three places), Ross Taylor in 20th (down by four places), Brendon McCullum in 27th (down by six places) and Elton Chigumbura in 64th (down by five places).

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori continues to lead the field with Shakib second and England off-spinner Graeme Swann third.

The biggest mover in the latest table is South Africa off-spinner Johan Botha, who climbed six places to occupy 14th position. Doug Bollinger of Australia and Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price improved their rankings by one place each and are now in sixth and seventh positions, respectively.

Outside the top 20, Bangladesh off-spinner Abdur Razzak climbed eight places to claim 21st position while India fast bowler Ashish Nehra jumped four places to achieve 22nd spot.

There are a couple of changes in the top five of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders with Shane Watson slipping to third place and Kallis dropping to fifth spot.

These changes have put Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi into second position while Vettori is now in fourth spot.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship, India gained two ratings points while South Africa earned one. As such, India is now on its own in second place on 117 ratings points while South Africa is on 116 ratings points.

The two sides, along with Sri Lanka, were locked on 115 ratings points before the start of their respective series.

Australia's loss by five wickets in Visakhapatnam has resulted in it conceding two ratings points. It now sits on 130 ratings points, 13 ahead of second-placed India.

The ODI action will now move to the United Arab Emirates, where sixth-ranked Pakistan and third-placed South Africa will go head to head in a five-match series which starts at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday, October 29.