Why Did Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma Disappear From ICC ODI Rankings? – Explained

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In a surprising turn, India's modern-day greats Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are missing from the latest ICC ODI batting rankings, released on August 19. Neither player features in the top 10, despite being firmly placed there just last week.

Rohit had been sitting pretty at No. 2 with 756 rating points, while Kohli was close behind in fourth with 736. The new chart, however, has Shubman Gill leading the way for India at No. 1 with 784 points. Shreyas Iyer holds the sixth spot with 704, and KL Rahul is ranked 13th with 638. Pakistan's Babar Azam, who had slipped to third behind Rohit in the previous update, has now returned to second place beneath Gill.

The obvious question is: how did Rohit and Kohli vanish so quickly? The answer lies in the ICC's ranking regulations. According to its rulebook, players can be excluded from the top 100 if they do not compete within the set qualifying window - 9 to 12 months in the case of ODIs and T20Is, and 12 to 15 months for Tests. Retirement from a particular format also results in permanent removal.

This explains the current scenario. Rohit and Kohli last represented India in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March 2025. Since then, they have not appeared in any international fixture, featuring only in the IPL earlier this year. Their absence from ODIs over the past few months has now pushed them outside the ranking eligibility period.

The ICC has previously cited similar examples. When MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014, his name was immediately removed from the Test rankings but he continued to appear in ODIs. In Rohit and Kohli's case, the situation is compounded by the fact that both legends have formally bid farewell to T20Is after winning the 2024 World Cup, and to Test cricket in May 2025.

For now, their ODI futures remain open, but their omission from the latest rankings is a stark reminder of how quickly the system adapts when players are inactive - regardless of their stature in the game.