Gill attains career-best second spot in ODI batters chart; Rohit, Kohli also in top-10
Dubai (PTI): Opener Shubman Gill has achieved a career-best second position and is the highest-ranked among three Indian batters, who are now in the top 10 of the ICC Men's ODI rankings issued on Wednesday.
The other two Indians in the top-10 are skipper Rohit Sharma (8th) and the peerless Virat Kohli (9th).
Last time, three Indian batters were in ODI's top-10 list, it was way back in January, 2019.
At that time, Rohit, Kohli and out-of-favour veteran Shikhar Dhawan were the three batters.
Gill, who had scored 58 and figured in a 121-run opening partnership with Rohit Sharma in the Asia Cup match against Pakistan, has moved up one spot while Indian skipper and Kohli have gained two places each in the latest chart released by the global cricket body.
Rohit has scored three successive half-centuries so far in the ongoing Asia Cup while Kohli advanced, thanks to his unbeaten 122 against Pakistan.
Pakistan also have three batters in the top-10 with less than a month to go for the start of the ICC men's ODI World Cup.
Captain Babar Azam is at the top and enjoys a lead of more than 100 rating points over Gill, while Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman are in fifth and 10 positions, respectively.
The latest weekly update, that also considers performances in three matches of the South Africa-Australia series and two matches of the England-New Zealand series, saw South Africa's Temba Bavuma closing in on a top-10 place after striking three centuries and two half-centuries in his last eight ODIs. He has advanced 21 places to 11th position while his previous best was 25th.
Australia players Davis Warner (up one place to fourth), Travis Head (up six places to 20th) and Marnus Labuschagne (up 24 places to 45th) have made significant progress as has the Indian pair of KL Rahul (up 10 places to 37th) and Ishan Kishan (up two places to 22nd).
Aiden Markram, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Liam Livingstone, Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway are among others to gain in the latest update.
New Zealand's Trent Boult is up to joint-second place among bowlers while Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa is in the top five of the bowling rankings for the first time after taking four wickets in the second match against South Africa.
Indian left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has gained five places to reach seventh position after grabbing nine wickets in two Asia Cup matches.
Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf has soared eight spots and is in the 21st position while India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah (up eight places to 27th) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (up 21 places to 56th) have also made big gains. Pandya is also up four places to sixth among all-rounders.
South Africa spinners Keshav Maharaj (up 10 places to 25th) and Tabraiz Shamsi (up 15 places to 29th) are among others to move up the rankings.
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Rupee rises 6 paise to 90.85 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee rose 6 paise to 90.85 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday on the back of a weaker greenback and FII inflows.
A positive start to the session at the domestic equity markets lent further support to the local unit while a rise in global crude oil prices, coupled with geopolitical uncertainties, capped sharp gains, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.86 against the greenback before inching up to 90.85, higher by 6 paise from its previous close.
The rupee stayed range-bound and settled with a gain of 4 paise at 90.91 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
"As the dollar index fell and Asian currencies gained today (Thursday) the rupee opened higher... A risk-on sentiment in the markets and RBI selling near 91.00 levels ensured yesterday (Wednesday) also that rupee is unable to cross 91.00 levels with FPIs being buyers of equity and sellers of dollars," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13 per cent down at 97.57.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.21 per cent to USD 71.00 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex climbed 303 points to 82,579.16 in early trade, while the Nifty rose 85.1 points to 25,567.60.
On Wednesday, foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 2,991.64 crore, according to exchange data.
