Why are Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma Missing from the ICC ODI Rankings?

Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma Missing From ICC ODI Rankings

Neither Rohit Sharma nor Kohli has played any cricket since IPL 2025. Their last appearance for the Indian team was in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March 2025. In the recently updated rankings by the International Cricket Council (ICC), both Indian batters are surprisingly absent from the top 100 of the ODI batters' rankings.

As per the rules, ICC can remove a player from the top 100 if he has not played any matches within the qualifying period of 12-15 months for Test matches and 9-12 months for ODIs and T20Is. Alternatively, the ICC may remove a player from the rankings forever if the player retires from a format or international cricket altogether.

So, it appears that the move is either a flaw or a technical glitch in the ICC system, as no retirement or inactivity rule applies to either of the Indian batsmen. Fans on social media are debating whether the ICC has made a mistake or if there is something more to it. As of now, the ICC has issued a clarification, which has ended the debate. Given their recent performance and activism, many expect the rankings to be improved in the next update. However, the disappearance of India's most successful ODI pair from the ICC ODI rankings became a mystery for fans for a while.

Clarification From The ICC on ODI Rankings 

However, the ICC soon realised its mistake and clarified that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's names were missing from the ICC list due to a technical glitch. The ICC told Wisden, "A number of issues in this week's rankings are currently being investigated.”

With this, Rohit Sharma is back to second place with a 756 rating, while Virat Kohli is back to fourth place with a 736 rating. Pakistani star batsman Babar Azam, who was in second place due to a technical glitch in the ICC ODI Rankings, has now moved back to third place. Whereas Australian batsman Travis Head, who had entered the top 10 due to a technical glitch, has now slipped back to 12th position. However, there is no change in the ranking of Indian Test captain Shubman Gill, and he still remains at the top as before.

Updated ICC ODI Rankings After Technical Glitch Fixed

However, immediately after the statement from ICC, the technical glitch in the ICC ODI rankings was resolved, after which Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came back to their second and fourth positions. However, there was a small change in this week's ODI rankings with West Indies batsman Shai Hope’s entry into the top ten. He recently scored a brilliant century and a half-century in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan. Apart from these, Sri Lankan batsman Kusal Mendis, who was in the top ten last week, is now out of the top 10.

Incorrect ICC ODI Rankings for Batters 

If we look at the rankings of ODI batters released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, August 20. We see Indian test captain Shubman Gill at the top, but after him, instead of Rohit Sharma, Pakistan's Babar Azam is in second place with a 739 rating. Meanwhile, instead of Virat Kohli, Sri Lankan batting all-rounder Charitha Lanka is in fourth place with a 719 rating. However, in this new ICC ranking, Indian batter Shreyas Iyer, who was at the eighth position as per the last ICC ODI rankings, is now at the sixth position after improving two positions. While West Indies' star batsman Shai Hope is in seventh place with a rating of 699, Australia's batsman Travis Head is in tenth place with a rating of 648; these two players are the new players to be included in the rankings, replacing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. According to the new ICC ranking, including Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, only two Indian players are in the top 10 of ICC ODI batsmen, whereas a week ago, a total of 4 players from India were in the top ten.

Previous ICC ODI Rankings for Batting 

In the ranking released by the ICC a week ago on 13 August, Indian test captain Shubman Gill was at the top among ODI batsmen, followed by Rohit Sharma in second place, Pakistani batters Babar Azam in third place and King Virat Kohli in fourth place. Apart from them, inform batsman Shreyas Iyer was also present at the eighth position in the ranking with 704, thus including Iyer, a total of four Indian batsmen in the top 10. However, no Australian batsman was included in the top ten in that ranking, which is usually very rare.