In a significant development, the names of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are missing from the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI Rankings for batters, released on Wednesday, thus sparking confusion among the fans. The Indian batting stalwarts have retired from Tests and T20Is but are still active cricketers in ODIs, having last played in the ICC Champions Trophy in March 2025.
Both Rohit and Virat were listed in the ICC ODI rankings for batters at no.2 and 4, respectively, with Indian Shubman Gill taking the top spot. However, as of the latest rankings that were updated on August 19, neither of them features in the top 100. In fact, Rohit even dethroned Pakistan’s Babar Azam last week, after the latter’s poor show in the Caribbean.
As of August 20, Babar has regained his second spot, while Kohli‘s fourth spot went to Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka. New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell is third. While the ICC is yet to officially speak out on the matter, it is believed to be a technical glitch that has created confusion among the fans.
What does ICC rulebook on rankings say?
According to the ICC rules on rankings, a player is removed from the list if he or she has retired from the particular format or completely from international cricket. One won’t find the names of Virat and Rohit in ICC Test and T20I rankings for batters since both have quit those formats.
At the same time, a player will be removed from the top 100 in the ICC rankings if he or she has not played a Test match for 12-15 months and an ODI or a T20I for 9-12 months. Virat and Rohit last played an ODI just five months ago, in March 2025.
In fact, the ICC rulebook even explained that former India captain MS Dhoni was removed from the ICC Test rankings after he retired from the longest format in 2014, but remained in the ODI rankings. Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020.
When will Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma return?
Both Kohli and Rohit would have returned in ODIs in August, but with India’s tour of Bangladesh postponed to 2026, they will now be seen in October when they tour Australia for five T20Is and three ODIs.
