Shubman Gill has risen to No. 1 in the ICC’s ODI batting rankings, overtaking New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell for the top spot.

The India batter’s ascent came after strong scores in the recent ODI series against England, where he made an unbeaten 80 in the first match and 77 in the third ODI at Lord’s.

Mitchell has dropped to second place following a subdued run that included 65 in an opening ODI against West Indies and two subsequent scores of 28.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma continue to hold third and fourth spots in the updated rankings.

Separately, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi jumped 230 places in the T20I batting rankings to reach 48th position, up from 278th ahead of a series against Zimbabwe.

The jump followed his 151 runs across a three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, which included two half-centuries.

Gill’s rise to the top of the rankings comes while he continues to serve as India’s ODI captain, a role he has held since October 2025 after replacing Rohit Sharma ahead of the Australia tour.

The rankings update comes after India’s recent tour of England, during which several batters put in strong performances in the white-ball leg.

England won the three-match series 2-1, having lost the opening ODI in Birmingham before winning both the Cardiff and Lord’s matches. Joe Root was named Player of the Series for his tally of 249 runs across the three games.

Gill’s rise to No. 1 comes even as India lost the series, underlining how individual form and team results do not always move in the same direction over a short white-ball series.

Gill has held the India ODI captaincy since October 2025, when he replaced Rohit Sharma for the tour of Australia, and has since led the side through series against New Zealand and Australia.

(Image: Photo: Bollywood Hungama, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

Australia coach Andrew McDonald is seeking 17-player squads for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup, citing the challenges of the expanded format.

Under the new format, finalists could play as many as 15 matches, up from 11 at the 2023 edition, forming the basis of McDonald’s request.

He said a squad limit of 15 could lead to an attritional tournament given the greater number of matches.

McDonald referred to the 2023 World Cup, when an injury to Travis Head had reduced Australia’s squad flexibility.

The team also faces a heavy schedule ahead of the tournament, including up to 21 Test matches over 14 months, with five-Test tours of India and England among them.

With key bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc all over 30 and carrying injury histories, squad depth remains a significant concern.

The 2027 World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, expanding to 14 teams with a new Super Series round and a Super 7 stage before the semi-finals.

The 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and will feature 14 teams, expanded from the 10-team format used at the 2023 edition held in India.

The new tournament structure includes a Super Series round before the group stages, followed by a Super 7 round ahead of the semi-finals, extending the overall length and physical demands of the event compared to previous editions.

McDonald’s push for larger squads comes as several cricket boards have separately raised concerns about player workload amid an increasingly packed international calendar spanning bilateral series, multi-team tournaments and franchise leagues.

Australia’s pace attack of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc has been central to the team’s success across formats in recent years, making their fitness and workload management a recurring talking point for the team management.

(Image: “Andrew McDonald during an Australia practice session at the MCG” by DustyNail, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pakistan’s new National Champions Cup one-day tournament will run at the Multan Cricket Stadium from August 11 to 18, ahead of the 2027 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.

The Pakistan Cricket Board will field four teams across seven matches in the event.

A single round-robin phase will be followed by a final, with the teams named Pakistan Gold, Pakistan Greens, Pakistan Whites and Pakistan Blues.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan will lead the four sides, which have been picked by the national selection committee.

The tournament is designed to gauge the country’s one-day talent depth ahead of the World Cup.

It forms part of a broader overhaul of the domestic cricket calendar for 2026-27, including expanded regional teams and changes to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

(Image: BBC Urdu (CC BY 3.0))