With his six-wicket haul in the recently ended Asia Cup final, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj has reclaimed the top spot in the men’s ICC ODI bowling rankings. Siraj has previously held the top spot between January and March 2023 before being displaced by Josh Hazlewood.
Josh Hazlewood of Australia overtook Siraj, who had held the top rank since January of this year. India won the Asia Cup title because of Siraj’s match-winning show in the final match. The match saw the hosts Sri Lanka getting all-out for just 50 runs and defeated by 10 wickets.
A widely shared image on social media shows Mohammed Siraj and his parents sharing a special moment amid this huge feat. His parents are seen clutching the photo of him holding the Indian cricket team shirt in the Instagram story he posted. He captioned the photo with the touching phrase “I miss you, Dad.”
Latest ODI Rankings after Asia Cup 2023
Owing to his ten-wicket haul at an Asia Cup average of 12.20. In the most recent ODI Rankings, Siraj has climbed eight spots to the top spot. The brilliant spell of 6 wickets for 21 runs that demolished Sri Lanka for 50 all out in the final was the talking point of the game. This stint was described by Siraj as “like a dream” and included a four-wicket over. It has only happened three other times in men’s ODI history.
The left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has dropped three places to ninth in the rankings. Due to their impressive showings in the Asia Cup, Afghan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman (No. 4) and Rashid Khan (No. 5) cracked the top five rankings. In the group stage, they each had two wickets taken. Trent Boult and Hazlewood round out the top five.
Hardik Pandya has moved eight positions to 50th. While star pacer Jasprit Bumrah moved two positions to 27th. The top two batters, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, have kept their positions of second and tenth, respectively. While star batsman Virat Kohli rose one position to the eighth rank. Among the top 20 latest ODI Rankings, Pandya is the only all-rounder, climbing one place to sixth.
Other notable players who made it to the top of the latest ODI Rankings
With only a week till the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India, South African spinner Keshav Maharaj made another significant climb in the rankings. In the ODI series between South Africa and Australia, Maharaj shone. After dropping the first two games, the Proteas became just the fifth team to win an ODI series.
Afghan spinners Mujeeb-ur Rahman and Rashid Khan are two other bowlers to move up the rankings. Among batsmen, Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa and Dawid Malan of England were among the top gainers.
During the ODI series against Australia, Klaasen struck a massive 174 runs, taking him for the first time into the top 10 rankings.
Malan is up to 13th in the rankings after scoring 277 runs in three matches against New Zealand.
England’s highest-ever score of 182 at The Oval moved Stokes up 13 spots to 36th in the latest ODI rankings for batters.
Mohammad Siraj’s Journey: From Rags to Riches
Mohammed Siraj began his career playing street cricket in Hyderabad. Siraj not only grabbed six wickets in the Asia Cup 2023 final but was also named the “Man of the Match.”
Mohammed Siraj used to play cricket on the streets of Hyderabad’s Old City, where he was raised in a humble family. The road from Hyderabad’s streets to international cricket was difficult for Siraj’s father because he was an auto-rickshaw driver. He persisted in his pursuit of his dream and never gave up.
His first big break came when some cricket coaches saw his talent and assisted him in joining the local cricket groups in Hyderabad. When the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) chose him in the IPL auction, it was a turning point in his life. He then eventually made the Indian cricket squad.
Mohammad Siraj joined Ajantha Mendis as the only bowler to have taken six wickets in a men’s ODI Asia Cup final yesterday. With a 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium, he helped India win their seventh Asia Cup final. He took 6-21 in a fantastic spell.
Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, praised his fast bowlers for securing the team’s eighth Asia Cup title. He said that a performance like the one shown in the final game would be remembered for a very long time.
