Top-ranked side goes into Champions Trophy boasting both top bowler and batsman in its ranks

South Africa was always going to be one of the sides to watch in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 but its profile got another boost with pace bowler Kagiso Rabada moving up four places to take the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers .

Top-ranked South Africa lost its three-match series to England 2-1 but former ICC U19 World Cup star Rabada’s haul of four for 39 in the final match at Lord’s on Monday helped him finish the series with seven wickets and become the youngest number-one bowler since Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq in 1998.

Rabada, just five days past his 22nd birthday, has displaced his compatriot Imran Tahir whom he leads by two points. With captain AB de Villiers top-ranked among batsmen, South Africa now has the top two bowlers as well as four players in the top 10 of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen – Quinton de Kock (fourth), Faf du Plessis (sixth) and Hashim Amla (10th) being the others.

The intense competition in the individual rankings justifies the tournament’s name as players from the eight participating teams feature prominently in it and not much separates the top players in the fray. The top three batsmen – de Villiers, David Warner and Virat Kohli are separated by just 22 points while only 23 points separate the top three bowlers – Rabada, Tahir and Mitchell Starc.

South Africa, India and England have four batsmen each inside the top 20 with New Zealand (three), Australia and Pakistan (two each) also having significant presence. Similarly, among bowlers, Bangladesh and England have three each inside the top 20, followed by New Zealand, South Africa and Australia with two each. In the all-rounders’ list led by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, there are three players from England in the top 10.

England’s series win over South Africa, which helped it gain two points, also reflects the close competition that can be expected in a crisp tournament like the ICC Champions Trophy.

The top five ODI teams are close to each other with South Africa (122), Australia (118), India (117), New Zealand (114) and England (112) all having a lot to play for in the eight-team tournament. For example, Australia and India could overtake South Africa by the next rankings update if they win all their three league matches and South Africa loses all its three matches.

South Africa, Australia, India and New Zealand have all won this prestigious tournament in the past while last time’s finalist England will be hoping to do one better in home conditions and with the confidence of the series win over South Africa.

The tournament, which runs from 1-18 June, also gives an opportunity to teams like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to consolidate their positions in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings as England and the seven other top-ranked sides gain direct qualification berths to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Last week, Bangladesh pipped Sri Lanka on decimal points to reach sixth rank for the first time.

Last week, Bangladesh pipped Sri Lanka on decimal points to reach sixth rank for the first time, ahead of three former World champions - Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies. Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are on 93 points and eighth-ranked Pakistan on 88 points, giving these teams a chance to gain more points by upsetting better-ranked sides since the rankings are weighted to reflect the difference in points.

Meanwhile, other players to gain in the rankings after the England-South Africa series include Quinton de Kock (up two places to fourth) and Eoin Morgan (up five places to 17th) among batsmen and Liam Plunkett (up seven places to 16th) among bowlers.

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 30 May, before the ICC Champions Trophy)

Rank Team Points

1. South Africa 122 (-1)

2. Australia 118

3. India 117

4. New Zealand 114

5. England 112 (+2)

6. Bangladesh 93

7. Sri Lanka 93

8. Pakistan 88

9. West Indies 79

10. Afghanistan 52

11. Zimbabwe 46

12. Ireland 41

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 30 May, before the ICC Champions Trophy)

Batsmen (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 874 54.38 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015

2 ( - ) David Warner Aus 871 44.84 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017

3 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 852 53.11 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014

4 (+2) Q. de Kock SA 776 43.71 803 v NZ at Wellington 2017

5 (-1) Joe Root Eng 772 47.89 792 v Ire at Lord's 2017

6 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 765 43.34 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017

7= (+1) Babar Azam Pak 762*! 55.08 762 v WI at Guyana 2017

( - ) Martin Guptill NZ 762 43.66 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017

9 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 742 45.90 798 v SA at Centurion 2015

10 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 734 50.22 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

11 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 733 43.67 752 v Pak at Sydney 2017

12 ( - ) Rohit Sharma Ind 717 41.37 761 v Aus at Sydney 2016

13 ( - ) MS Dhoni Ind 712 50.96 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

14 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 701 44.01 743 v Zim at Harare 2015

15 (-1) S. Dhawan Ind 690 42.91 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015

16 ( - ) Alex Hales Eng 667 37.86 692 v SA at Headingley 2017

17= (+5) Eoin Morgan Eng 646 38.10 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010

( - ) Jos Buttler Eng 646 36.40 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

19 ( - ) Tamim Iqbal Ban 642! 33.43 642 v NZ at Dublin 2017

20 ( - ) M. Hafeez Pak 632 32.73 665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

Bowlers (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating

1 (+4) K. Rabada SA 724! 24.90 5.13 724 v Eng at Lord's 2017

2 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 722 24.18 4.67 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

3 (-1) Mitchell Starc Aus 701 19.88 4.81 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

4 (-1) Sunil Narine WI 690 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

5 (+1) J. Hazlewood Aus 684*! 25.18 4.65 684 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

6 (-2) Trent Boult NZ 683 24.85 4.98 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016

7 ( - ) Chris Woakes Eng 645 31.56 5.59 651 v SA at Headingley 2017

8 ( - ) M. Nabi Afg 622 32.33 4.32 653 v Zim at Harare 2017

9 (+1) S. Al Hasan Ban 620 28.74 4.38 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

10 (+1) M. Santner NZ 617*! 32.20 4.95 617 v Ban at Dublin 2017

11= (-2) Matt Henry NZ 615 25.26 5.62 675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016

( - ) Akshar Patel Ind 615* 30.20 4.38 624 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016

13 ( - ) Amit Mishra Ind 609* 23.60 4.72 618 v NZ at Visakhapatnam 2016

14 (+1) M. Mortaza Ban 601 30.11 4.75 653 v Zim at Mirpur 2009

15 (+3) M. Rahman Ban 600*! 16.00 4.62 600 v NZ at Dublin 2017

16 (+7) Liam Plunkett Eng 597* 31.13 5.73 600 v SA at Southampton 2017

17 (-1) Jason Holder WI 590 32.90 5.44 605 v SL at Bulawayo 2016

18= (-1) Dale Steyn SA 579 26.62 4.94 746 v Ind at Durban 2013

(+2) R. Ashwin Ind 579 32.37 4.91 691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

20 (-6) Adil Rashid Eng 576 34.12 5.68 655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 362 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

2 ( - ) M. Hafeez Pak 353 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

3 ( - ) M. Nabi Afg 330 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017

4 ( - ) A. Mathews SL 309 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014

5 ( - ) J. Faulkner Aus 308 361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015