Enter Rohit Sharma, oldest ICC ranked world no. 1 batter in any format

At 38 years and 182 days, Rohit Sharma has been there and done that in the annals of ODI cricket. He is the only man to have scored three double centuries in this format, and is the ninth highest rungetter of all time with 11,370 runs, but Wednesday ushered in a ‘first’ for him when he became ICC's world no. 1 ranked batter as per the new rankings.

This marks the former India captain’s first-ever stint at the top of the ODI rankings, making him the oldest to enjoy the honour at a time when ageism runs rampant in Indian cricket.  Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas, often called Asia’s Bradman for his prolific run-scoring, is a remote second, having reached the top at 35 years 320 days, with West Indies opener Desmond Haynes following at 33 years 259 days.

A stellar show in the three-match series Down Under, where both Rohit and Virat Kohli returned to international cricket after a gap of seven months, saw the former emerge as the highest scorer from either side with 202 runs, which proved the clincher. He now has 781 rating points, pushing previous incumbent Shubman Gill to number three, who replaced Rohit as ODI captain ahead of the series. Afghanistan’s hard hitting opener Ibrahim Zadran stands in second position.

One last time, signing off from Sydney 👊 pic.twitter.com/Tp4ILDfqJm

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) October 26, 2025

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Interestingly, the current ranking not only makes the 'Hitman' the oldest batter to occupy the top spot in the ODI rankings but across all formats. He has outdone fellow Mumbaikar and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar on that front, as the latter held the top position in Test cricket at 38 years and 73 days in 2011.

Two other Indian batters have retained their positions in the top 10 in this format — Kohli slipping by one position to sixth (725 points) and Shreyas Iyer up by one at ninth (700). There was heartening news on the injury update about Shreyas, who suffered a laceration in his spleen while completing a difficult catch in the third match at Sydney and had to be hospitalised. Latest reports say Shreyas is now stable and out of the ICU, though he will be monitored in the hospital for some more time.

Legends of the game have, in the past, held on to the top spot for long stretches. The record for a batter for most number of days at the top spot belongs to Sir Viv Richards, who stood at the summit for 1,748 days on the trot. Kohli holds the record among Indians, having held the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings for 1,258 days.