AB de Villiers becomes top ranked batsman in ODIs

Dubai
South Africa’s AB de Villiers on Friday regained the top spot in the ICC player rankings for ODI batsmen after leading the list of run-scorers in the recent series against New Zealand. De Villiers’s 262 runs in the series have helped him overtake Australia opener David Warner at the top of the ladder. The 33-year-old batsman is on 875 points, four points ahead of Warner and 23 clear of Virat Kohli. In the bowlers’ rankings, South Africa’s Imran Tahir led the table while his teammate Kagiso Rabada has broken into the top-five for the first time after taking eight wickets in four matches against New Zealand.  

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Indian wells, California
Canada’s Bouchard crashes out of Indian Wells 

Canadian Eugenie Bouchard took another step backward with an early loss at the BNP Paribas Open here today. The 23-year-old Bouchard, a former top-five player who is currently ranked No. 53, won the opening set of her first-round match against Germany’s Annika Beck on Thursday but she was unable to maintain that high level and fell 6-3, 2-6, 2-6. Next up for Beck in the second round will be 26th-ranked Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic. In other first-round women’s singles match, Spanish qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo advanced with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over 36th-ranked Russian Ekaterina Makarova.  

Moscow
Russian team boss slams Sharapova’s wild card critics 

Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev blasted players who oppose Maria Sharapova’s hopes of winning a French Open wildcard, describing the former world No. 1 as “irreproachable, and a true professional”. Sharapova will return to the sport in Stuttgart on April 26, the day her 15-month doping suspension ends. However, the five-time Grand Slam title winner will need French Open organisers to hand her a wildcard at Roland Garros, where she is a two-time winner, as her world ranking was wiped off during her ban. France’s world No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said he didn’t think Sharapova should get a Paris invitation. “It’s like if you give a sweet to a kid who did a bad thing, the kid’s going to do it again. It sends the wrong message,” he said. — Agencies