• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Crown Returns To The King Virat Kohli Gets Showered With Love After Icc No 1 Ranking

"Crown returns to the king": Virat Kohli gets showered with love after ICC No. 1 ranking

Soumyajit Dutta

Virat Kohli claims top spot in ICC rankings [Source: X]Virat Kohli claims top spot in ICC rankings [Source: X]

Virat Kohli has been ranked the No. 1 ICC menโ€™s ODI batter following the latest update from the apex cricket council, the International Cricket Council. The Indian batting stalwart reclaimed the top spot after his match-winning 93 off 91 balls against New Zealand, which helped India seal the chase by four wickets.

Unsurprisingly, Virat Kohliโ€™s commanding knock and his consistent form over the past six months propelled him back to the summit of the rankings. He had earlier slipped down by three to four places during his lean patch in early to mid 2025, with Rohit Sharma moving ahead of him during that period.

Virat Kohli replaces Rohit Sharma at the top of ICC rankings

Notably, Kohli replaced Rohit Sharma at the top with an ICC rating of 785, while Rohit slipped to third place as New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell overtook him with a rating of 784.

For the January rankings, Kohliโ€™s position at No. 1 is firmly sealed as he once again wears the crown. His career-best rating, however, remains 909, which he achieved against England at Headingley in 2018.

Nevertheless, the internet erupted in celebration as fans hailed the return of โ€œKing Kohliโ€ to the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings.

Letโ€™s take a look at how the internet reacted to Virat Kohli claiming the top spot:












How Virat Kohliโ€™s 93 won him the top spot

In the three-match ODI series, Indiaโ€™s victory in the first ODI was largely built around Virat Kohliโ€™s contribution. Chasing 301, Rohit Sharma struggled and departed for 26 in the ninth over.

Kohli then anchored the innings alongside Shubman Gill, stitching a crucial 118-run partnership. He later added another 77 runs with Shreyas Iyer, continuing his composed knock that included eight boundaries and one six.

Kohli fell just seven runs short of a century when Kyle Jamieson dismissed him in the 40th over. Despite missing out on a hundred, his impact was massive, as KL Rahul, along with Harshit Rana, guided India home.

Kohliโ€™s purple patch after Australia series

Meanwhile, Kohliโ€™s recent purple patch has been evident across formats. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 208 runs from two matches, including a century.

In the ODI series against South Africa as well, he slammed two centuries in three matches, performances that played a key role in his rise back to the top of the ICC rankings.