The South Africa captain begins her ninth stint at the top of the ODI batting rankings, replacing India's Smriti Mandhana, while Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur also make significant gains.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has reclaimed the No. 1 position in the latest ICC Women's ODI batting rankings, displacing India skipper Smriti Mandhana following the latter's modest returns in the opening two matches of the home ODI series against Zimbabwe.
Wolvaardt returns to the summit for the first time since November 2025, marking her ninth separate stint as the world's top-ranked ODI batter. She first reached the No. 1 position in March 2022 and has continued to establish herself among the leading batters in women's international cricket.
Mandhana, meanwhile, has slipped to second place after scoring 32 and registering a duck in the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe in Vadodara.
Despite Mandhana's drop, several of her India team-mates have made notable progress in the latest rankings update, with Deepti Sharma emerging as one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Deepti climbed four places to 23rd among ODI batters after scoring 106 off 86 deliveries in the second ODI. Her all-round contributions also helped her rise one place to eighth among bowlers and two places to fourth in the all-rounders' rankings. She claimed five wickets across the first two matches of the series.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur also moved up the batting rankings after producing an impressive innings in the second ODI. Her knock of 126 off 121 balls earned her a two-place rise to eighth position.
Pratika Rawal continued her impressive progress in international cricket, reaching a career-best 21st place after climbing seven positions. The opener scored her third ODI century, making 100 off 96 balls in the opening match, before following it up with 61 off 67 deliveries in the second ODI. Her rating of 598 points is also a career high.
Shafali Verma gained 15 places to reach 73rd in the ODI batting rankings, while Kranti Gaud moved up two positions to 25th among bowlers following her figures of 3 for 43 in the first match. Gaud also climbed three places to 33rd in the all-rounders' rankings.
In the women's T20I rankings, Shafali advanced one place to third among batters, while Mandhana rose one position to fourth. Their movements followed India's dominant 3-0 T20I series sweep against Zimbabwe.
Gardner, Wareham make gains in T20I rankings
Australian players also registered significant improvements in the latest T20I rankings following their 2-0 series victory over New Zealand in North Sydney. The third and final match of the series was washed out.
Ashleigh Gardner climbed nine places to 19th among T20I batters after smashing 84 off 45 balls in the second match, which Australia won by 40 runs.
Georgia Wareham's bowling performance also earned her a rise in the rankings. Her figures of 3 for 18 lifted her four places to joint-seventh among T20I bowlers.
Kim Garth returned to the top 10, climbing five positions to joint-10th in the bowling rankings.
New Zealand bowlers Bree Illing and Nensi Patel also made progress despite their team's series defeat. Illing rose six places to 17th, while Patel climbed six positions to 29th in the T20I bowling rankings.
The latest rankings update reflects the impact of recent international performances, with Wolvaardt returning to the top of the ODI batting chart and several Indian and Australian players strengthening their positions across the batting, bowling and all-rounder categories.
