Adil Rashid has been rewarded for his good consistent form in the Caribbean as he moves up two places and takes the top spot from Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (second) and India’s Ravi Bishnoi (third) on the T20I rankings for bowlers as a host of England and West Indies players make their move less than six months out from the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Rashid becomes just the second player from England to hold the No.1 ranking for T20I bowlers after off-spinner Graeme Swann held the top spot back more than a decade ago.
It means three different players have held the premier position on the list for T20I bowlers over the last three weeks, with West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein (up three spots to sixth) and South Africa counterpart Tabraiz Shamsi (up three places to ninth) also making eye-catching moves inside the top 10 on a busy day for the rankings.
West Indies quartet Brandon King (up six places to sixth), Nicholas Pooran (up two spots to 12th), Rovman Powell (Up 14 places to 23rd) and Kyle Mayers (up nine spots to 33rd) made some ground on top-ranked T20I India batter Suryakumar Yadav, while Phil Salt jumps to 20th following his superb run for England in the Caribbean.
Suryakumar’s lead at the top is now out to a total of 100 rating points after his quickfire century in the final game of India’s series against South Africa, with Pakistan veteran Mohammad Rizwan (second) and South Africa dasher Aiden Markram (third) his closest rivals.
Babar Azam emerged as a standout player for the Men in Green during the recently concluded five-match series against New Zealand. Despite the national team’s 4-1 series loss, Babar’s exceptional performance illuminated the proceedings, especially considering that it is a T20 World Cup year and the 2024 season has just kicked off.
In the series, the 29-year-old showcased his batting prowess by becoming the second-highest run-scorer, amassing a total of 213 runs in five matches at an impressive average of 42.60 and a striking rate of 142.00. This included three half-centuries.
As a result of his noteworthy contributions in the mentioned series, the right-handed batter has climbed to the fourth position in the latest ICC T20I batters rankings, surpassing Aiden Markram with a total of 763 points.
Markram moves up one place to third behind Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan on the latest T20I rankings for all-rounders, with England spinner Moeen Ali (up two spots to equal eighth) and West Indies seamer Jason Holder (up one rung to 24th) also making the ground.
Things are even tighter in 50-over cricket, with Babar re-claiming his place as the No.1 ranked ODI batter in the world from Gill after the India opener was rested for the ongoing series against South Africa.
Ireland’s Harry Tector moves up one place on the ODI batter rankings to seventh on the back of his 33 against Zimbabwe, while South Africa duo Rassie van der Dussen (down one spot to eighth) and Heinrich Klaasen (drops one rung to 10th) lose some ground inside the top 10 following small scores in the opening match of their series with India.—Agencies
