Rohit Sharma rises to No. 2 in ICC ODI rankings
Dubai, Aug 14 (PTI): Amid the chatter around his future in international cricket, Indian maestro Rohit Sharma has risen to the number two spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batters released on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old Rohit, who has not played any competitive cricket since the 2025 IPL season, dethroned Babar Azam while moving a place up even as the Pakistani slipped to No. 3 after a string of low scores in the recently-concluded ODI series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.
With 756 rating points Rohit sits just behind India's Test captain Shubman Gill (784), who has retained the No. 1 position in the rankings.
Former captain Virat Kohli held the fourth position with 736 points.
Both Rohit and Kohli had announced their retirement from the Test format before the Indian team's tour of England but have expressed their willingness to carry on in the 50-over game.
The two star batters might be seen in action in the three-match ODI series against Australia in October, and have started training to get back in the groove.
One of the all-time greats of the ODI game along with his longtime India teammate Kohli, Rohit attained his career-best ranking points during the 2019 World Cup when he accumulated 882 points after smashing a record-breaking fifth century in the tournament.
Rohit and Kohli last appeared in ODIs during India's victorious Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE earlier this year.
India currently boast five players in the top 15 of the men's ODI batting rankings, with Shreyas Iyer in eighth place and KL Rahul in 15th position.
Australia and South Africa batters make gains
Meanwhile, in-form batters from Australia and South Africa have been the big winners and reached new career-high ratings following the latest update to the T20I rankings.
Tim David is the leading run-scorer across the opening two matches of the T20I series between Australia and South Africa and the hard-hitting right-hander has improved six spots to 10th overall.
Teammate Cameron Green also gained six spots to rise to 17th, while youngster Dewald Brevis is the big winner from a South African perspective following his record-breaking exploits in the second game of the series in Darwin, where he struck a scintillating hundred.
Brevis exploded with a superb innings of 125 as the Proteas squared the three-match series against the Aussies at 1-1 and jumped from outside the top 100 to 21st place.
South African Tristan Stubbs (up 12 spots to 27th) also made some gains for T20I batters, while Josh Hazlewood (up three spots to 20th), Kagiso Rabada (up 15 places to equal 44th) and Lungi Ngidi (up 14 rungs to 50th) are the improvers in the latest rankings for T20I bowlers.
Some New Zealand players also gained on the Test rankings lists after their impressive 2-0 series sweep of Zimbabwe away from home.
Pacer Matt Henry was named Player of the Series for his 16 wickets at an average of 9.12 and the right-armer also received a new career-high rating and improved one place to third overall on the latest rankings for Test bowlers.
Henry's strong series saw him jump ahead of Australia captain Pat Cummins, with No.1 ranked Jasprit Bumrah and second-placed Rabada the only players ahead of him on the updated list for Test bowlers.
A trio of New Zealand players made good ground on the rankings for Test batters, with Rachin Ravindra (up 15 places to 23rd), Devon Conway (up seven spots to 37th) and Henry Nicholls (up six rungs to 47th) rewarded for decent scores in Zimbabwe.
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Parents fear uncertainty after Karnataka govt rules out age limit relaxation for Class 1 admission
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has ruled out any relaxation of the minimum age limit for admission to Class 1 beginning with the academic year 2026-27. Following the refusal, a group of parents continues to press for leniency.
Parents of children who fall under the age of six by a small margin on the cut-off date have met Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and senior officials from the Department of School Education and Literacy to request an exemption. School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that the government will not change its decision, as reported by Deccan Herald.
According to the minister, children must be six years old by June 1 to be eligible for admission to Class 1. beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. He noted that the previous relaxation was a one-time measure that was clearly confined to the 2025-26 academic year.
“If such requests are entertained every year, it will never end. While granting relaxation last year, it was explicitly stated that it applied only to one academic year. From 2026-27 onwards, the rule will be strictly implemented,” Bangarappa was quoted by DH.
Parents argue that the rigid cut-off is affecting children who are short by a few days. One parent was quoted by DH as saying that his daughter would be 12 days short of completing six years on June 1. Such parents would be forced to repeat a year despite being academically ready. Others pointed out that children promoted from LKG to UKG during the 2025-26 academic year are now facing uncertainty over their transition to Class 1.
Few parents also recalled that earlier, admissions were allowed for children aged between five years and 10 months and six years. Parents saw it as a more practical approach, with children born in November and December being disproportionately affected.
The issue of age criterion goes back to a government order issued in July 2022. The order mandated six years as the minimum age for Class 1 admission. Parents of children already enrolled in pre-primary classes, protested against the order and the state deferred implementation, announcing that the rule would come into force from the 2025-26 academic year.
After renewed pressure, the government granted a one-year relaxation for 2025-26, citing the large number of students affected and in consultation with the State Education Policy Commission. While announcing the exemption, the minister had stated that no further concessions would be allowed.
