How Virat Kohli reclaimed the No.1 ODI spot after the low of 2022

The latest update to the ICC's player rankings came ahead of the second ODI between India and New Zealand, and featured some shuffling among the top three batters in the 50-over format – Virat Kohli moved up from second to first, Daryl Mitchell from third to second and Rohit Sharma from first to third.

Kohli's move to the top, perhaps surprisingly, marked the first time in almost five years that he reached the summit. The last time he did so was on March 28, 2021. Barely a week later, his spot in the rankings was usurped by Pakistan's Babar Azam, who moved to No.1 after a century against South Africa. Largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, that was Kohli's last ODI of the calendar year.

The steady slide of 2022

He returned to action against South Africa in January 2022, making 51 off 63 in Paarl as India lost. That was not enough for him to overtake Babar, and Kohli remained at No.2 in the rankings. A duck and another half-century followed in that series, and the gap to Babar grew.

The rest of 2022 went poorly for Kohli. He went seven straight innings without crossing 18. By the time he was dismissed for five against Bangladesh in December, he had dropped to 11th in the rankings, and was 192 rating points off top spot. Only one player in the world at the time had a rating over 800, and that was Babar with an incredible 890.

Also read: Daryl Mitchell is on an ODI hot streak, and you probably haven't noticed

But Kohli found form just after that; in just over a month he reeled off scores of 113, 113, 4 and 166 not out against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to kickstart the new year. That run pushed him all the way back up into fourth place, behind Babar and the South African pair of Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen. He had two lean series immediately afterwards – Kohli only made 144 runs in six ODIs against New Zealand and Australia. That sent him back to No.7.

How Kohli's World Cup accelerated his charge

The back half of 2023, however, proved to be excellent from a personal standpoint. In the build-up to that year's World Cup, he scored a half-century against Australia, and an Asia Cup century against Pakistan. Still, he entered the tournament as the ninth-ranked batter in the world.

His scores in the tournament were to die for. In 11 innings, Kohli failed to cross 20 just twice. Every time he did, he made at least a half-century. On three occasions, he made it to triple figures. Even as India lost the final in dramatic fashion, the dust had settled on an all-time great campaign; 765 runs at 95.6, and a strike rate of 90.3.

Read more: Most runs, most fifties: Virat Kohli is having the World Cup of India’s dreams

Over the course of the World Cup, he gained an astounding 95 rating points, going from 696 to 791. He moved from ninth in the world to third, with only Babar (824) and teammate Shubman Gill (826) above him.

But the schedule and his own form had their say in 2024. He played just three ODIs that year, making 58 runs in all. What helped was the fact that none of his competitors really had the opportunity to pull ahead either; he ended the year in fourth place, 50 points off Babar who was back on top.

Kohli had a solid enough Champions Trophy in 2025, averaging over 50 as India won the trophy. But his teammates, Gill and Rohit, did as well. In fact, he slipped to fifth by the end of that tournament, as Gill overtook Babar at the top, and Heinrich Klaasen pushed ahead of Kohli.

Kohli's final push back to No.1

The back-to-back ducks in his next ODI series, the first after his Test retirement, did not help either. He sat at No.7 after that, before his unbeaten 74 in Sydney pushed him back up to sixth.

Since then, Kohli seems to have discovered the most menacing version of himself in ODI cricket, while the others around him have (only) been above-average. He reeled off 135, 102, 65 not out and 93 in succession against South Africa and New Zealand to charge back into top spot. The first of those pushed him into 4th, and the third one to No.2, breathing down Rohit's neck as the opener made it to top spot for the first time in 18 years.

At Baroda on January 11, his 93 coupled with Rohit's 26 gave him enough to move 10 points clear of his teammate. Daryl Mitchell also made 84 in that game, but that only pushed his rating up to 784, a single point behind Kohli's 785. Had Mitchell scored just a bit more, the wait may have gone on...

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