![Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Sahibzada Farhan [Source: PTI, AFP]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1765371326706_virat_kohli.jpg?type=hq)
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Sahibzada Farhan [Source: PTI, AFP]
Virat Kohli made a big leap on the latest ICC ODI rankings for batters. Australian fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been called up by the team management to bowl in the nets ahead of the third Ashes 2025-26 Test. In other news, the PCB has granted NOCs to nine Pakistan cricketers for the upcoming BPL 2025-26 season.
Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Wednesday, December 10.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli claim top two rankings after SA heroics
Former Indian captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now claim the top two rankings on the latest ICC ODI charts for men’s batters. While Rohit retained his number one position with 781 rating points, Virat Kohli soared past New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell and Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran to jump to number two on the rankings. Kohli recently plundered over 300 runs against South Africa in India’s three-match home ODI series, which including successive centuries in Ranchi and Raipur.
Rohit Sharma, who top scored for India in the Australian ODIs, also aggregated 146 runs in India’s 2-1 series win.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul out injured, misses WI second Test
West Indies opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul was ruled out of his team’s playing XI for the second Test of the three-match series against New Zealand. As updated by West Indies Cricket, the 29-year-old suffered a side strain prior to the match at Wellington’s Basin Reserve while practising in the nets.
The West Indies team management subsequently replaced Tagenarine Chanderpaul in the playing XI with white-ball specialist Brandon King, who scored 33 off 55 balls on Day 1 as the visitors folded up for just 205 in front of Blair Tickner (4-32) and Michael Rae (3-67).
Jhye Richardson enters Test fray amid Ashes 2025-26
Rejected Australian fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been called up by the Australian team management. The cricketer will now be expected to bowl in the nets alongside fellow pacemen Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in the Australian camp ahead of Australia’s third Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series against England, scheduled to be played at the Adelaide Oval between December 17 and December 21 later this month.
Jhye Richardson recently impressed for Australia A in Brisbane during their four-day warm-up game against England Lions, picking up figures of 4-35 on Day 1. The 29-year-old, who last played a Test match for Australia back in December 2021, now has an opportunity to push for a Test claim amid the ongoing Ashes.
Japan name Under-19 squad for 2026 World Cup
Cricket Japan has unveiled a 15-player Japan squad for the upcoming 2026 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia next month. Kazuma Kato-Stafford, with an experience of 12 T20I matches for the Japan national team at the age of just 18, was appointed as Under-19 captain for the tournament. The team also features former captain Nikhil Pol and all-rounder Timothy Moore in the mix, alongside in-form Nihar Parmar as Japan Under-19 preps up for only their second appearance in an Under-19 World Cup event.
PCB grants NOCs to Mohammad Nawaz, Farhan for BPL 2026
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has granted No Objection Certificate (NOCs) to nine Pakistani cricketers to participate in the upcoming 2026 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The board issued the NOCs on Wednesday, December 10, i.e., mere couple of weeks prior to the launch of the tournament in Sylhet.
The Pakistani players who received the NOCs are Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Sahibzada Farhan as well as Hussain Talat, Ihsanullah, Haider Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Khawaja Nafay, and Salman Irshad, as confirmed by GeoSuper.
