Virat Kohli stays second in ICC ODI batting rankings

Dubai: India`s Virat Kohli may have flopped in the two innings of the first Test against England but the star batsman has held on to his second spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings released on Sunday.

Kohli though has company in South Africa`s Hashim Amla, who jumped two places to join forces at second place after the opener smashed two centuries in his teams` first ODI series win in Sri Lanka. Proteas ODI skipper AB de Villiers continued to top the batting chart as Indian captain Mahendra SIngh Dhoni maintained his sixth position while Shikhar Dhawan stayed on tenth. De Villiers has been rewarded for his series aggregate of 212 runs by earning 13 ratings points which have given him a career-best rating of 885. Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal sat pretty at the top in the bowlers rankings while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the only Indian in the top-10. South African pacer Ryan McLaren and wrist spinner Imran Tahir have achieved career-best rankings. McLaren, who was the most successful bowler of the series with nine wickets, has broken into the top 10 in 10th position after jumping 10 places. Tahir, who claimed six wickets, has rocketed 32 places to occupy the 51st spot. South Africa, as a team, also gained useful points after their 82-run win against Sri Lanka to clinch the three-match ODI series 2-1. The rainbow nation entered the three-match series in fifth position on 109 ratings points, and has now joined Sri Lanka on 111 ratings points but is ranked behind Sri Lanka, in fourth position, when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point. This gain of two ratings points means South Africa now trails number-one ranked Australia by four ratings points and second-ranked India by one rating point.