England batsman Dawid Malan has replaced Pakistan’s Babar Azam at the top of the ICC player rankings for T20I batsmen after a fruitful home series against Australia.
The 33-year-old has progressed four places after a series-topping run aggregate of 129, which included a player of the match effort of 66 in first game.
Malan, whose previous best ranking was second in November last year, is now eight rating points ahead of Azam. India’s K L Rahul, who has not played international cricket in over six months, has lost two places to be fourth and his skipper Virat Kohli has gained a spot to be ninth.
For Australia, captain Aaron Finch’s 125 runs in the series have helped him retain third position. Glenn Maxwell also holds on to his sixth position among batsmen while gaining one slot to reach second position in the list of all-rounders.
England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has gained two slots to reach seventh position, while Australia left-arm spinner Ashton Agar’s five wickets have enabled him retain third spot.
Meanwhile, Australia have reclaimed the top spot in the team rankings after briefly conceding it to England during the series. Australia started the series 10 points ahead of their rivals at 278, but were overtaken after losing first two matches, when both were on 273 points, with hosts ahead on decimal points.
Australia, who were number one for the first time in this format at the time of the annual update on May 1 this year, are now on 275 points and England on 271.