The ICC updated their weekly rankings on Wednesday, August 20. South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj topped the bowling chart. But the real shock came when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma disappeared from the ODI batting list.
Last week, Rohit was ranked second and Kohli was fourth. Suddenly, both veterans were missing from the top 100 ODI batters. Fans were left confused. Social media was filled with questions. Many even speculated that the two might announce their retirement from ODIs. The retirement trend spread quickly online. The buzz forced the ICC to respond to the situation.
ICC Confirms Technical Error Restores Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in ICC Rankings
The fans can now relax. It was only a technical glitch. Wisden reported that they spoke to the ICC. The ICC confirmed to them that the disappearance was caused by an error on the website. The mistake has been corrected. Both Rohit and Kohli are back in the list.
Rohit has retained his number two rank. Kohli is again at number four. “Several issues in this week’s rankings are currently being investigated,” the ICC told Wisden.
It was not only Rohit and Kohli who were affected. The glitch also brought back names of some retired players. Faf du Plessis, Steve Tikolo, Alex Obanda, Thomas Odoyo, and Anshy Rath were seen in the charts. These players had long retired from international cricket. Their sudden return confused fans even more.
The ICC later fixed the error. All the retired players were removed from the list once again.
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For now, the rankings stand corrected. The glitch may have caused panic, but the status of the players remains the same. Rohit and Kohli continue to be among the best ODI batters in the world.
The incident showed how much fans care about rankings. A small error was enough to spark retirement talks and wild debates. The ICC has assured that they are looking into the issue so that such mistakes do not happen again.
