Shubman Gill misses MS Dhoni's record by a whisker despite becoming 4th Indian to attain No.1 ODI batting ranking

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Shubman Gill on Wednesday became the number one ranked ODI batter in the world by dethroning Pakistan captain Babar Azam who was at the top for over two years. The development comes on the back of two fifties from the 24-year-old in the World Cup 2023.

The Punjab batter scored 92 runs in the second-last outing against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 2. Gill's maiden World Cup fifty came in the match against Bangladesh in Pune.

Shubman Gill became only the fourth batter from India to achieve the feat after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. In the latest ODI rankings for batters, Kohli is at fourth and India captain Rohit Sharma at number sixth.

However, the rising start and 'Prince' of Indian cricket missed out on breaking the record of the legendary MS Dhoni. The World Cup-winning captain achieved the feat in just 38 innings after making his debut against Bangladesh on December 23, 2004.

Shubman Gill could have become the fastest from India to attain the number one ODI rankings for batter, however, missed by a whisker. The right-hand opener took 41 innings to wear the crown.

Gill, who did not feature in India's first two World Cup 2023 matches, has scored 219 runs in six matches at an average of 36.50 and a strike rate of 96.90 in the ongoing marquee event.

Overall, Shubman Gill has featured in 41 matches and scored 2136 runs at an average of 61.02. He has six hundreds and 11 fifties to his name in the format.