Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj clinches ICC top spot

India's pace sensation Mohammed Siraj has capped off a superb 12 months by claiming the No 1 spot on the ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings for bowlers from New Zealand seamer Trent Boult.

It has been a meteoric rise for Siraj, who only returned to India's ODI setup in February last year following a three-year hiatus without playing a 50-over match at the international level. Since then Siraj has scalped 37 wickets from 20 matches to be one of India's most consistent fast bowlers and the accolades have started to pile in for the underrated 28-year-old.

On January 24, Siraj was named in the ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year while brought in more joy for the pacer as he went past Boult and Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood to become the top-ranked ODI bowler for the very first time.

Not only has Siraj's form over the last 12 months been imperious, but his efforts in the ODI series at home earlier this month against Sri Lanka and New Zealand have shown how much the right-arm pacer has improved in recent times.

India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey challenged Siraj to work on specific aspects of his game in the middle of last year and the extra training that the energetic quick has put in has paid off in spades judged on recent performances.

(ANI)