Delhi: On August 10 this year, the ICC released the ODI ranking of the batsmen, Rohit Sharma was number 2 and Virat Kohli number 4. Both of them have not retired from ODIs yet, so there is a name in the rankings. After this, when the new ODI rankings were declared on August 20, the names of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were missing from the list, while between these two dates, both of them did not take any new decision about ODI career. However, this change was not hidden and as if a storm has come on social media.

The news also reached the ICC and then the investigation revealed that the mistake was made by the ICC. The ICC issued not only an explanation without delay, also changed the ranking of the date of August 20 and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returned to number 2 and number 4 respectively. If there was a mistake in the case of another player, it may take some time to come in front of him, but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s followers keep an eye on every news to them. In such a situation, how would the news of the disappearance of the name of the top 100 in the ranking remain hidden?

On the mistake of disappearing the name for some delay from the ODI rankings, the ICC clarified that this happened due to any technical disturbance. Both these veteran batsmen had no reason to disappear from the ranking because both are active in ODIs. Both Rohit and Kohli last played ODIs during the Champions Trophy in UAE in February-March 2025 and both played a special role in winning the title of India. Rohit played a match winning innings in the final while Kohli was in great form during the group round. The Indian innings was handled at the Dubai International Stadium, which helped the spinners.

The mess of both of them had retired due to the removal of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s name from the ICC ODI rankings. On the other hand there was no information about this decision, so a situation of misunderstanding was created. In such a situation, the clarification of the ICC ended the speculation arising out of the removal of both these superstars.

Let us tell you that according to the ICC guideline on the players’ rankings, if a player does not play a match during the qualifying period, then he can be removed from the top 100 in the next ranking list. This qualifying period for the Test is 12–15 months and is 9-12 months for both limited over cricket formats (ODI and T20). Will be removed from the rankings even after retiring. If you quit playing in one format, the name will be removed from the ranking of that format but will continue to appear in the list of other formats.

Rohit and Kohli, in March this year, were involved in India’s victory in the ICC Champions Trophy and that victory was not yet 6 months. Therefore, removing the name from now on was wrong on every criterion.