Rohit Sharma dethrones Babar Azam in ICC ODI Rankings despite not playing since March; fans say ‘still dominating at 38’

Rohit Sharma may not have been playing international cricket for the past five months, but the Indian captain still made gains in the latest ICC ODI Rankings for batters, announced on Wednesday. Rohit, who has already retired from Tests and T20I, last played an ODI in March during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand, which India won.

While Rohit gained a spot to be at no.2 in the ICC ODI rankings for batters, former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam dropped to third after an underwhelming three-match series against West Indies, which the Men in Green lost 1-2 on Tuesday in Trinidad.

With Babar managing just 56 runs against West Indies in three ODIs, the International Cricket Council (ICC) took a note of his strike rate to drop him to third. Rohit, who scored 180 runs in the ICC Champions Trophy in five matches, boasted a highest strike rate of 100.00 among the Indian batters in the tournament.

In comparison, Babar managed a strike rate of just 62.22 against West Indies. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill (first), Virat Kohli (fourth) and Shreyas Iyer (eighth) retained their positions in the to 10 of the rankings. However, the Rohit loyalists left no stone unturned celebrating the Indian star.

Here's how Rohit Sharma fans reacted