Mohammed Siraj is the talk of the town at the moment. And why not? The pacer has performed exceedingly well for India in the past 6–8 months. In the absence of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, India appeared to be struggling and having issues in the field, but Mohammed Siraj has handled the situation admirably. As a result of his hard work, the pacer has gained the No. 1 ranking in ICC ODIs.
It came as an added success for India after they defeated New Zealand 3-0 at home. With that, Rohit Sharma and co. became the new No. 1 ODI team. And on Wednesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the latest ICC rankings, and Siraj became the new No, 1 ODI bowler in the world.
Mohammed Siraj became the No. 1 Ranked ODI bowler – Twitter reacts
Mohammed Siraj ended the year 2022 as India’s highest wicket-taker in 50-over cricket. He took 24 wickets in 15 games at a decent economy rate of 4.62. He has also started the year 2023 with a bang, ended as the highest wicket-taker against Sri Lanka, and was also the leading wicket-taker for India in the first two games. However, there was not too long ago when he was only considered a red-ball bowler and was given hardly any chance in the white-ball format.
But the pacer has grabbed the chance with both hands and is looking to take India forward as the leading pacer in the team. Siraj has already picked up 14 wickets in just five innings in 2023, and with the ODI World Cup being played in India, his role will be very crucial for the team. Apart from him, Shubman Gill has also gotten the benefit of his consistent performance. He has emerged as the new run machine for India and has moved into the top ten in the ODI batter rankings.
Gill is now ranked sixth, ahead of Virat Kohli (7) and Rohit Sharma (9) in the batsmen’s rankings. Fans were delighted to see Siraj’s growth and congratulated him on Twitter.