India, Jan. 14 -- Virat Kohli is back at the top of ODI batting, returning to No. 1 in the ICC men's rankings on 14 January 2026.

It's his first time leading the list since July 2021 - and the timing matters, because this isn't a runaway crowning. It's a razor-thin race, and Kohli has walked right back into the middle of it.

Kohli's jump to the summit follows his match-winning 93 off 91 balls against New Zealand in Vadodara, an innings that blended tempo-control with the kind of chase-management that has long been his ODI signature. The rankings swing isn't being driven by a single flash score, though. It sits on a run of consistent, high-impact innings that has kept him near the top tier even during the period when he wasn't wearing th...