Kohli retains top ODI spot, Root shoots to No.2
Dubai, July 18: India skipper Virat Kohli held on to his No.1 spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI player rankings for batsmen, but had a new man just after him with England Test skipper Joe Root vaulting to the No.2 spot at the end of the three-match rubber.
Root struck two centuries -- 113 not out in the second game and 100 not out in the third, to average 216 in England's 2-1 triumph and jump four spots to the No.2 spot in the rankings.
According to an ICC release, Root's 818 ratings points, however, isn't the best in his career. The 819 he had after the Brisbane ODI against Australia earlier this year, when he followed up his 91 not out in Melbourne with 46 not, remains his best.
Kohli's India lost the series, but the captain was in good nick, registering scores of 75, 45 and 71 to total 191 runs at an average of 63.66. That not only helped him hold on to the top spot, but also gave him his career-best rating points: 911.
With Root moving up, other top batsmen had to make way. Pakistan's Babar Azam moved down one spot to No.3, the out-of-action David Warner slipped two spots to fifth, while Ross Taylor went down one position to No. 6. Rohit Sharma, however, stayed at No.4, with his 137 not out in the first ODI helping his cause.
Two wrist-spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Adil Rashid, also had memorable series.
Rashid, the England leg-spinner, had six wickets in the three games, and the 3/49 in the final fixture took him to a career-high 681 rating points.
There was no movement up the ladder for him, though, as he remained in the eighth spot.
There were no changes in the top five -- Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan, Hasan Ali, Trent Boult and Josh Hazlewood -- but Kuldeep soared eight spots following his chart-topping nine wickets in the series to get to No.6.
The Indian left-armer ended the series with 684 rating points after having achieved a career-high earlier in the series following returns of 6/25 and 3/68.
Elsewhere, the Zimbabwe versus Pakistan ODI series is still on, but the high performers have started to rise up the table.
The stars for Pakistan in the first two ODIs have been Fakhar Zaman (177 runs) and Imam-ul-Haq (172 runs) with the bat and Usman Shinwari (6 wickets) with the ball.
While Zaman has moved up 14 positions to No.24 with a career-best 639 points -- joint with Alex Hales -- Imam, still only six ODIs old, is at No.94, a gain of an astounding 70 spots.
Shinwari, too, has gone up 66 spots to No.94 among the bowlers.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
