T20I rankings: Smriti retains 2nd spot, Harmanpreet rises to 14th
Swashbuckling India batter Smriti Mandhana retained her second spot, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur moved up to 14th in the latest ICC women’s T20I rankings for batters released on Tuesday.
Apart from Mandhana, the big-hitting Shafali Verma was the other Indian in the top 10, holding on to her sixth position, while Jemimah Rodrigues remained joint 11th.
Among bowlers, spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma climbed one spot to third, with pacer Renuka Singh Thakur retaining her sixth place. Seamer Arundhati Reddy, however, slipped out of the top 10 to 11th.
Deepti also rose to number 3 in the all-rounders’ rankings.
Australia opener Georgia Voll entered the top 10 of the batting rankings for the first time, while New Zealand star Sophie Devine’s two successive half-centuries against South Africa helped her move up two places to 18th in the list.
The latest rankings update that takes into consideration the first two matches of the series in the West Indies, also saw the 15-year-old Fanny Utagushimaninde of Rwanda enter the rankings on 66th position after becoming the first woman to score a century on T20I debut (against Ghana) and the youngest of either gender to score a century in the format.
The ICC Emerging Player of the Year in 2024, Annerie Dercksen, moved up 18 places to 55th after an unbeaten 55 in the fourth match of the series in New Zealand.
All-rounders Ellyse Perry of Australia (up two places to 20th) and Qiana Joseph of the West Indies (up 14 places to 33rd) made notable progress in the batting rankings, with Maddy Green (up two places to 44th) and Stafanie Taylor (up two places to 48th) also registering gains.
The T20I bowling rankings saw left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba enter the top 10, her five wickets in three matches lifting her from 11th to ninth, while Australia leg-spinner Georgia Wareham moved from 16th to 12th after picking three wickets in two matches.
New Zealand’s Jess Kerr has attained a career-best 15th position after grabbing eight wickets in the first four matches of the series against South Africa that includes a series-clinching three for 16 in Wellington.
Ayabonga Khaka (up five places to 36th) and Kim Garth (up 35 places to 44th) have also advanced.
Apart from Mandhana, the big-hitting Shafali Verma was the other Indian in the top 10, holding on to her 6th position
