India captain Mithali Raj’s excellent show in the three-match series against England has helped her grab the No.1 position in the ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for the eighth time in her stellar 22-year international career.
The 38-year-old struck 59 in the second match and then guided India to a four-wicket victory in the final match of the series with an unbeaten 75, gaining four spots to reach the top of the ladder in the latest weekly rankings update for women, carried out on Tuesdays. Mithali Raj had started the tour in the eighth position but her series-topping aggregate of 206 runs has helped her reclaim the top position, which she had last occupied in February 2018. The first time she reached the number one position was in April 2005 after scoring an unbeaten 91 against New Zealand at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Potchefstroom and the difference of more than 16 years at No.1 is the largest for any woman batter.
England’s Janette Brittin was number one for the first time in 1984 and the last time in 1995, while New Zealand’s Debbie Hockley is the only other female batter to have been No.1 more than 10 years apart — first achieving the feat in 1987 and for the final time in 1997.
In other gains for India players, big-hitting opener Shafali Verma’s scores of 44 and 19 in the last two ODIs of the series sees her gain 49 places to reach 71st position while Jhulan Goswami is up to four places to 53rd. In the bowlers’ list, all-rounder Deepti Sharma is up to one place to 12th after finishing with figures of three for 47 in the final match.
For England, opener Lauren Winfield-Hill has advanced 14 places to 41st position with scores of 42 and 36 while Sophia Dunkley has soared 80 places to 76th after scoring 73 not out and 28.
Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone continues her ascent, gaining four places to reach a career-best sixth position among bowlers after returns of three for 33 and two for 36. Kate Cross’s haul of five for 34 in the second match of the series is instrumental in seeing her advance from 25th to 18th position.