Dubai: India opener Abhishek Sharma Wednesday reclaimed the world No. 1 spot in the ICC men’s T20 International batting rankings following his sensational century against New Zealand in Wellington.
Abhishek hammered his fourth T20I century Tuesday, smashing 113 off just 38 balls in the third T20I to power India to a six-wicket win and dislodge compatriot Ishan Kishan from the top of the world rankings.
Kishan was forced to miss the second and the third T20Is of the five-match series due to an injury. He has dropped to the third spot in which the second spot is now occupied by Pakistan T20I skipper Sahibzada Farhan.
“The innings was enough to see the left-hander displace teammate Ishan Kishan and move back into the No.1 spot for T20I batters,” the ICC wrote on its website.
Abhishek has a total of 897 rating points followed by Farhan with 883, and Kishan with 866.
Kishan had become the top ranked batter in July after his commendable performances in Ireland, taking the spot from Abhishek.
India’s T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, has slipped five positions to be ranked world No. 9 with 758 rating points.
South Africa’s Marco Jansen, meanwhile, replaced India’s Ravindra Jadeja as the top-ranked all-rounder in Test cricket following his all-round performances against Australia in their ongoing Test series.
Jansen has also become the world’s top-ranked Test bowler. He replaced Australia ace pacer Mitchell Starc, who has dropped to the second position.
“Jansen earns the top billing in two categories for the first time in his career on the back of a standout performance for the Proteas during their comprehensive victory over Australia in the second ICC World Test Championship contest in Gqeberha, with the left-armer contributing 85 runs with the bat and a match-turning five-wicket haul during the visitors’ first innings,” ICC said.
In fact, Jansen has also moved up 13 positions in the ICC Rankings for Test batters to reach 56.
“Jadeja had held that mantle for more than four years, with Jansen rising to the top of the charts for Test all-rounders for the first time after he was recently called ‘the best cricketer in the world’ by former South Africa great Dale Steyn,” the ICC said.
The changes to the rankings for Test bowlers also saw Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah slipping down one position to be ranked fifth with 853 rating points.
In women’s ODI rankings, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt replaced India’s Smriti Mandhana to be ranked world No. 1.
Smriti, who is No. 2 in ODIs now, is ranked fourth in T20I batters list, one spot behind her fellow opener Shafali Verma.
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