Shubman Gill dethrones Babar Azam to become No. 1 batter in ICC ODI rankings
Dubai, Feb 19 (PTI): India vice-captain Shubman Gill on Wednesday dethroned Babar Azam of Pakistan from the No. 1 spot in the ICC ODI Rankings for batters on the back of his strong show against England in the recent home series.
The ICC issued the latest rankings just ahead of the start of the eight-team Champions Trophy in Karachi with the match between Pakistan and New Zealand.
“India right-hander Shubman Gill overtakes former Pakistan captain Babar Azam to become the top ranked ODI batter in the world,” the ICC said.
Gill, who scored two fifties and a century in the recent three-match ODI series against England at home which India won 3-0, jumped one place to the No. 1 spot. He now has 796 rating points compared to Babar’s 773.
India skipper Rohit Sharma is placed at the third spot with 761 points followed by South Africa’s Henrich Klaasen and New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell at fourth and fifth respectively.
“It's a major shake-up at the top of the rankings just prior to the start of the Champions Trophy and leaves an interesting sub-plot to what will transpire over the coming weeks during the eight-team tournament in Pakistan and Dubai,” the ICC said.
“This is the second time Gill has held the No.1 ranking in ODI cricket, with the India batter having also gone past Babar to claim top spot midway through the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2023.
“Gill has been in excellent form of late, with his century against England in Ahmedabad during the third ODI of the recently concluded series enough to catapult the 25-year-old to the top of the rankings,” the global governing body added.
Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana, meanwhile, has taken the first position in the ODI rankings for bowlers as he replaced Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan.
“While Sri Lanka won't be featuring at the Champions Trophy, Theekshana earned the top spot following his exploits against the Aussies that included an excellent four-wicket haul in the opening match of that series in Colombo,” the ICC said.
Sri Lanka had recently handed a 2-0 whitewash to Australia with Theekshana taking four wickets.
The Sri Lankan spinner has 680 rating points, followed by Rashid at second, Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz at third, India’s Kuldeep Yadav at fourth and Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi at fifth.
“Meanwhile, Afghan spin wizard Rashid drops to second and will be keen to regain the No.1 spot as he trails his Sri Lankan counterpart by just 11 rating points,” the ICC said.
“While a trio of spinners in India's squad Kuldeep Yadav (up one place to fourth), South Africa's Keshav Maharaj (re-enters the rankings in sixth) and New Zealand's Mitchell Santner (up four rungs to seventh) are all inside the top 10 after making ground this week."
Afghanistan veteran Mohammad Nabi remains the top ranked all-rounder in ODIs, followed by Sikandar Raza, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rashid.
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Siddaramaiah in 'helpless situation', under some 'compulsion', claims Cong MLA Rajanna
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Bengaluru (PTI): Amid claims that Siddaramaiah's confidants are being targeted within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, following recent actions against some party leaders, senior MLA K N Rajanna on Friday alleged that the chief minister is "helpless" and under some "compulsion" as he is not standing up to defend his people.
The comments from the former minister, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, came after Congress took action against some of its minority community leaders--considered close to the CM--following allegations of an internal conspiracy against the party candidate in the Davanagere South bypoll held on April 9.
Rajanna himself was sacked from the Ministry last August on the instructions of the party high command, following his alleged comments criticising top party leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" charge.
"There will be vested interests in the party who will try to conspire against those who have been loyal to the party and want the party to grow for the welfare of the people. Nothing can be done about it. What we expect from our chief minister is that when such a situation arises, he should stand strong, but he is not standing and that is a sad thing," Rajanna said in response to a question whether Siddaramaiah's followers were being targeted in Congress.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "... I don't know what his thinking is. But we did not expect such a helpless situation from Siddaramaiah."
When asked who had made Siddaramaiah helpless, the former minister said, "I won't say who, you understand it yourself."
"People are saying that those close to Siddaramaiah are being targeted...I don't know what compulsions Siddaramaiah has. If he tells, we can know, but he won't say. I don't know under what compulsion he is following this neutrality," he said, adding that the CM is helpless and a person becomes "helpless" when his/her voice shrinks.
The Congress recently suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party's primary membership and relieved another MLC Naseer Ahmed from the post of chief minister's political secretary. This action came after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiracy" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
Following the action against Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed, speculation is that Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan may also face action during the next cabinet rejig, as these three wanted a Muslim to get the bypoll ticket in Davanagere South, which the party gave to the late MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson Samarth Mallikarjun. They also did not actively participate in campaigning.
Citing a Kannada saying that there is no punishment for the mistakes committed by the King, Rajanna, in what seemed to be a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, asked, "Does sharing a stage with a person (referring to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) who said, 'Who is Rahul Gandhi? I don't know,' not amount to indiscipline?"
Referring to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement on whether poverty could be ended by taking a dip in the Ganga at Prayagraj, he said, "...but this person (again referring to Shivakumar) goes there and compliments UP CM Yogi Adityanath for arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela. He also goes to Ambani family marriage, while Rahul Gandhi did not even accept the invitation."
"I'm not saying that action should be taken against this person too, but the party will have to observe these things also," he added.
Rajanna further pointed out that no action was taken when veteran Congress leader and late MLA from Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa made a speech seeking votes for BJP candidate B Y Raghavandra during Shivamogga Lok Sabha polls, and asked if this did not amount to indiscipline.
"The same people were at the helm then (referring to Shivakumar as KPCC chief), even a verbal warning was not given to him (Shivashankarappa)," he said, adding that, similarly no action was taken when Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination in Davanagere South before the party announced its candidate for Davanagere South-- that was also an act of indiscipline.
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