Ishan Kishan Tops ICC T20I Batting Rankings, Ends Abhishek Sharma’s 12-Month Reign At No. 1

Dubai, July 1: Dashing India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has displaced teammate Abhishek Sharma from the top spot in the latest ICC men’s T20I batting rankings released on Wednesday.

The rise to the top for Kishan (876 ranking points) comes on the back of his consistent form at the T20 World Cup at the start of the year, where the flamboyant southpaw compiled 317 runs at a strike rate of almost 200 that included a Player of the Match performance against Pakistan in Colombo.

Abhishek (869 ranking points) had held the top ranking for almost 12 months, with Kishan joining an exclusive group that includes Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav as one of four male players from India to have held the premier position for batters in T20I cricket.

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Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan is a distant third in the list with 848 points.

In the latest list, newly appointed India vice-captain Tilak Varma (747 rating points) is static at sixth place, whereas sacked former skipper Suryakumar Yadav is eighth in the list, having dropped a slot.

Among bowlers, India’s Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah dropped a slot each to be third and sixth respectively. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan maintained his top spot.

In the men’s Test batting rankings, Travis Head has leapt to the top spot while Joe Root has slipped to third.

India Test captain Shubman Gill is sixth in the list, having gained a spot, while Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped a slot to be ninth. Outside the top 10, Rishabh Pant is the best-ranked Indian at 13th. Bumrah is top-ranked among bowlers.