Australia’s pace express Mitchell Starc has claimed the top spot in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers for the first time in his career following a stellar performance in the 2015 World Cup that also fetched him the player of the tournament award.
The left-arm fast bowler finished ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament as joint-leading wicket-taker with New Zealand’s Trent Boult with 22 wickets, including two for 20 in eight overs in the final against New Zealand, which helped him to rise two places and claim the number-one position for the first time.
Starc had entered the 2015 World Cup in seventh positon and during the course of the tournament, he gained 147 ratings points and currently sits on his career-best 783 rating points, The Dawn reported.
Boult also made gains in the latest rankings following his excellent run in the tournament. The left-arm fast bowler vaulted nine places to jump to career-high sixth position – a place he shares with Australia’s Mitchell Johnson, who also moved up by two places.
South Africa’s wrist spinner Imran Tahir has also finished the series in a career-best second position, having started the tournament in 11th position and leapfrogging nine places, thanks to his 15 wicket scalp in eight matches.
Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, despite playing his last ODI in August 2014, ranked number three in the list.
The Top 10 ICC ODI bowlers are:
1. Mitchell Starc (Australia)
2. Imran Tahir (South Africa)
3. Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan)
4. Dale Steyn (South Africa)
5. Sunil Narine (West Indies)
6. Trent Boult ( New Zealand)
7. Mitchell Johnson ( Australia )
8. James Anderson (England)
9. Morne Morkel (South Africa)
10. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) (ANI)