Dubai, Feb 20 (IANS) India skipper Virat Kohli achieved a rare feat on Tuesday when he crossed the 900-point mark concurrently in Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and India pacer Jasprit Bumrah also took joint-top position among bowlers, an International Cricket Council (ICC) statement said.

Kohli’s purple patch with the bat saw him become only the second batsman after South Africa’s AB de Villiers to attain the 900-point mark concurrently in both forms of the game.

He is one among only five to have crossed 900 points in both forms of the game as he consolidated his top position with 558 runs in the 5-1 series win over South Africa, during which he notched up three tons.

The 28-year old moved ahead of West Indian great Brian Lara in the all-timers’ list, having also overtaken him in the all-timers’ Test list last month.

Kohli is now seventh in the ODI list of all-time rankings that is led by Vivian Richards with 935 points.

Kohli is now a good 22 points clear of Sachin Tendulkar, whose ODI career high of 887 points came against Zimbabwe in January 1998. Kohli’s aggregate is the best since Brian Lara reached 911 points in March 1993.

Meanwhile, India opener Shikhar Dhawan is another notable gainer in the latest rankings even as a host of Indian bowlers made rapid strides in the rankings, including the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuleep Yadav.

Leg-spinner Chahal has moved up eight slots to 21st position with 16 wickets in the South Africa series while Chinaman bowler Yadav’s 17 scalps saw him move up 15 positions to take the 47th position.

Bumrah’s eight wickets moved him two places to take the joint-first position.

Coming to Rashid, the 19-year old highly rated leggie joined Bumrah at the top with 16 wickets in the series against Zimbabwe which Afghanistan won 4-1 to become the youngest to attain top ranking.

Rashid’s 51 runs in two innings in the series, including a brisk 43 in the final match in Sharjah on Monday, also helped him break into the top-five in the list of all-rounders while he has also moved up 11 slots to take 114th place among batsmen.

Other Afghanistan players to gain in the latest rankings include batsmen Rahmat Shah (up 39 places to 42nd), Javed Ahmedi (up 18 places to 83rd) and Najibullah Zadran (up 23 places to 93rd) and off-spin bowler Mohammad Nabi (up seven places to 11th).

Afghanistan also leapfrogged Zimbabwe in the ODI Team Rankings by gaining four points to take 10th position with 55 points. Zimbabwe lost three points to be on 50 points.

For South Africa, Faf du Plessis’ 120-run knock in the first ODI against India, after which he was ruled out due to injury, has seen him gain one slot to reach eighth position.

–IANS
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