Mithali Raj in ICC Women’s ODI Rankings: Mithali Raj regains top spot in ICC Women’s ODI ranking after wait of three years

India captain Mithali Raj once again topped the International Cricket Council’s Women’s One Day International rankings after more than three years on the back of a stellar performance in the three-match series against England. India lost the series 1-2 but the 38-year-old Mithali scored half-centuries in all three matches.

Mithali scored 72 and 59 in the first two ODIs while her unbeaten 75 in the third and final match helped India win the match. Mithali has risen to the top with a gain of four places. She had last topped the rankings in February 2018. Mithali had topped the rankings for the first time in April 2005. He then scored an unbeaten 91 against New Zealand in the World Cup at Potchefstroom. The 16-year gap between being on top of the rankings for the first time and last is the biggest for any female batsman.

England’s Janet Brittin became number one for the first time in 1984 and last in 1995, while New Zealand’s Debbie Hockley is another female batsman with a gap of more than 10 years in the number one spot. Hockley topped the rankings for the first time in 1987 and last in 1997. Aggressive Indian opener Shefali Verma scored 44 and 19 runs in the last two ODIs to jump 49 places to be at 71st position. Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami has gained four places to be at 53rd position.

In the bowlers’ list, all-rounder Deepti Sharma has moved up one place to 12th position. He took three wickets for 47 runs in the final match. England opener Lauren Winfield Hill has moved up 14 places to 41st. He played innings of 42 and 36 runs. Sophia Dunkley has jumped 80 places to be at 76th spot after scoring an unbeaten 73 and 28. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone has moved up four places to a career-best sixth position in the bowlers’ list. He took five wickets in two matches.

Kate Cross, who took five wickets for 34 runs in the second match, has moved up from 25th to 18th position. Nat Sciver and Sarah Glenn have gained one place each to be 22nd and 43rd respectively. Pakistan in the Women’s T20 International Player Rankings Key spinner Nida Dar has gained six places to be at 15th position. He took four wickets in the three-match series against West Indies. She is the first woman player in the country to take 100 wickets in T20 Internationals.

West Indies’ Shamilah Cornell has moved up 14 places to 27th. Captain Stephanie Taylor has moved up 10 places to 42nd after taking four wickets including a hat-trick in the final match. Fatima Sana has moved up 85 places to 94th position. In the batsmen’s list, Chedeen Nation has moved up 17 places to 61st while Qasia Knight has gained 20 places to 71st.