The race for the ICC World No 1 ODI bowler has heated up as pacer Mohammed Siraj has been joined by Australian senior pacer Josh Hazlewood. The two fast bowlers are level on 669 ranking points after Mohammed Siraj dropped 11 points during the third ODI of the recent series between India and Australia to finish equal with Hazlewood.
On the other hand, the Afghani duo of Mujeeb ur Rahman and Rashid Khan are also giving competition to the pacers for the top spot. Meanwhile, both Mohammed Siraj and Hazlewood will have an opportunity to press their claims for top spot in the rankings when India and Australia kick off their World Cup campaign against each other on 8 October.
Threat looms large over Mohammed Siraj ODI Rankings
As mentioned above, the Afghanistan spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman (third place with 657 ranking points) and Rashid Khan (fourth, 655) are next best in the ODI bowling rankings. Both Siraj and Josh Hazlewood will have their task cut out in order to retain their positions in the upcoming mega event as the wickets might be better suited for spin bowling which helps the case for the likes of Rashid and Mujeeb.
Speaking about others, Shaheen Afridi (632) climbed higher among the leading ODI bowlers, up two spots to sixth while swapping places with Mitchell Starc (628) who dropped to eighth.
The left-arm strike bowlers are set to face-off in an enthralling clash when Pakistan and Australia meet at the World Cup on 20 October. Mohammad Nabi (621) and Kuldeep Yadav (616) also swapped spots with the Afghanistan off-spinner moving up one place and into the top-10 of the ODI bowling rankings. Kuldeep will have an opportunity to reclaim his top-10 ranking on the familiar spin-friendly decks of India.
