ICC T20I rankings: Abhishek-Kishan make it 1-2 in batting
Swashbuckler Ishan Kishan rode on his superb T20 World Cup campaign to move up to a career-high second spot, trailing top-ranked Abhishek Sharma by a mere four points in the latest ICC list for T20I batters published on Wednesday.
Abhishek held on to his lead at the top following his quick-fire half-century against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final, while fellow left-hander Ishan Kishan is now his closest rival after he moved up two places to second overall after his 317 runs in the tournament.
Kishan (871 points) earned a new career-high rating to trail Abhishek (875 points) by just four rating points, while New Zealander Tim Seifert (up four places to sixth) and England’s Jacob Bethell (up 17 rungs to 16th) also improved to the best marks of their career following some dominant knocks during the T20 World Cup.
However, there was a change in the T20I bowlers’ ranking list, with India spinner Varun Chakravarthy losing the premier position to Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan following the completion of the global event.
Chakravarthy (740 points), whose mystery was solved by most of the top global batters, is now second to Rashid (753), whose team, Afghanistan, exited the tournament at the group league stage. Chakravarthy dropped to second as Rashid claimed the No.1 ranking despite not playing any matches over the last week, while Adil Rashid (up one spot to fourth), Jasprit Bumrah (up one place to sixth) and Axar Patel (up six slots to 17th) were rewarded for some decent efforts during the T20 World Cup with some eye-catching gains.
The race at the top of the rankings for T20I all-rounders also remained tight, with Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza and India star Hardik Pandya obtaining new career-high ratings this week while occupying the top two spots in the category. Shivam Dube, who was ninth, has dropped two places to be 11th in the latest list.
