Maheesh Theekshana rises to the top of ODI bowlers’ rankings

Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana has become the new world No. 1 bowler in ODI cricket.

The latest ICC rankings update was released on Wednesday as the Champions Trophy 2025 got underway in Pakistan.

Theekshana jumped to the top spot in the ODI rankings for bowlers with 680 rating points and pushed Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan to second spot with 669 points.

The 24-year-old spinner was recently seen in action during Sri Lanka’s two-match ODI series against Australia earlier this month.

He returned with figures of 4/40 and 0/11 in the two games and helped Sri Lanka beat Australia 2-0 in the series.

Theekshana has taken 76 wickets in 52 ODI matches at an average of 25.52 and an economy of 4.62.

He also became the seventh Sri Lankan to take a hat-trick in ODIs during the second match of a three-match series against New Zealand last month. He finished with figures of 4/44 in eight overs in the match, albeit in a losing cause.