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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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
