ICC T20I Rankings: Suryakumar Yadav breaks into top 10
What's the story
India's T20I stars have been rewarded ahead of their ICC Men's T20 World Cup title defense. The latest update to the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings has seen several Indian players make significant strides. Opener Abhishek Sharma has extended his lead at the top of the T20I batters' rankings, while captain Suryakumar Yadav has broken into the top 10 after finding his form.
Consolidation
Abhishek's stellar performance boosts his top spot
As mentioned, Abhishek has increased his lead atop the ICC T20I Batting Rankings to 80 rating points. His current rating of 929 points is just two shy of his career-high of 931 achieved during last year's Asia Cup. England opener Phil Salt (849 rating points) is still a distant second, with India's Tilak Varma (781) in third place. Abhishek has been making waves with his fiery starts in the ongoing New Zealand T20I series. He recently slammed a 14-ball half-century.
Player ascent
Suryakumar climbs to seventhÂ
Former top-ranked batter Suryakumar has also made a significant jump in the latest update. He has moved up five spots to seventh in the ICC T20I Batting Rankings after his knock of 57* and 82* against New Zealand. The Indian captain seems to have ended his dry spell, leading India to one-sided wins in the first three T20Is.
Bowling boost
Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy climb
Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has moved up four places to 13th on the latest list for T20I bowlers. He took three wickets against New Zealand in the third T20I. His teammate Varun Chakravarthy continues to top this category after claiming three wickets in the first two matches of the series. Notably, Chakravarthy has a lead of 50 rating points over second-placed Rashid Khan (737).
All-rounder ascent
Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube rise in all-rounder rankings
Hardik Pandya has also climbed a spot to third in the latest rankings for T20I all-rounders. And Shivam Dube has risen six spots to joint-11th with Rashid Khan. Both of them have 179 rating points at present. Axar Patel, currently out injured, is the other Indian in the top 15. Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza still tops this category with 289 rating points.