DUBAI: Amid ongoing speculation about his future in international cricket, Indian batting maestro Rohit Sharma has climbed to the No. 2 spot in the latest ICC ODI batting rankings released on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old, who has not played competitive cricket since the 2025 IPL season, moved up one place to dethrone Pakistan’s Babar Azam, who slipped to third after a poor run in the recent ODI series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.
With 756 rating points, Rohit now trails only India’s Test captain Shubman Gill (784), who continues to hold the top spot. Former skipper Virat Kohli remains fourth with 736 points.
Both Rohit and Kohli retired from Test cricket before India’s tour of England but have made it clear they intend to continue in the 50-over format. The star duo could return to action in the three-match ODI series against Australia in October and have already begun training.
A modern great of the ODI game alongside Kohli, Rohit reached his career-best rating of 882 points during the 2019 World Cup, where he scored a record five centuries in the tournament. The pair last played ODIs during India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE earlier this year.
India currently have five batters in the top 15 of the ODI rankings — Shreyas Iyer is eighth and KL Rahul holds 15th place.
