Mohammed Siraj Becomes ICC No. 1 ODI Bowler in The World
Indore: India quick Mohammed Siraj has capped off a superb 12 months by claiming the No.1 spot on the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings for bowlers from New Zealand seamer Trent Boult.
It’s a remarkable rise for Siraj, who only returned to India’s ODI setup in February last year following a three-year hiatus without playing a 50-over match at the international level.
Since then Siraj has collected 37 wickets from 20 matches to be one of India’s most consistent fast bowlers and the accolades have started to pile in for the underrated 28-year-old.
On Tuesday, Siraj was named in the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year and on Wednesday the right-armer had another reason to celebrate as he went past Boult and Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood to become the top-ranked ODI bowler for the very first time.
Not only has Siraj’s form over the last 12 months been imperious, but his efforts in ODI series at home earlier this month against Sri Lanka and New Zealand has shown just how much the right-armer has improved in recent times.
India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey challenged Siraj to work on certain aspects of his game in the middle of last year and the extra training the energetic quick has put in has paid off in spades judged on recent performances.
Siraj took nine wickets against Sri Lanka to be the leading wicket-taker for the three-game series and backed that up by claiming a four-wicket haul in the opening match of the recently-completed series against New Zealand.
It means Siraj jumps to the top of the ODI bowler rankings with 729 rating points, albeit narrowly, with his lead at the top over Hazlewood just two rating points higher than the Australian.
(With ICC inputs)