India’s dynamic opener has also set a new benchmark in the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for batters, following his Player of the Series performance in the Asia Cup held in the United Arab Emirates.
The 25-year-old left-hander reached 931 rating points, surpassing the previous record of 919 set by England’s Dawid Malan in 2020. He achieved this milestone after his 61-run innings against Sri Lanka and concluded the tournament with 926 rating points, 82 ahead of second-placed England’s Phil Salt. Abhishek also made a notable 75 against Bangladesh during the tournament.
Meanwhile, Tilak Varma added 28 rating points following unbeaten scores of 49 against Sri Lanka and 69 against Pakistan, maintaining his third-place ranking.
Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka, who scored a century against India, has entered the top five. Other notable movers include Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan (up 11 places to 13th), India’s Sanju Samson (up eight places to 31st), and Bangladesh’s Saif Hassan (up 45 places to 36th).
T20I: Kuldeep Yadav, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Jasprit Bumrah Make Significant Moves in ICC Rankings
India’s left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who took four wickets against Pakistan in the final, has jumped nine places to reach 12th in the ICC bowling rankings. Pakistan’s left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi moved up 12 spots to 13th, while Bangladesh leg-spinner Rishad Hossain climbed six places to 20th. India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah rose 12 positions to 29th, and Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz advanced five places to 41st.
Saim Ayub Becomes Top-Ranked T20I All-Rounder
Pakistan’s Saim Ayub has surged four spots to claim the No. 1 position among T20I all-rounders for the first time in his career, surpassing Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe, Deependra Airee of Nepal, Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan, and India’s Hardik Pandya.
T20I: Airee has maintained his fourth spot but added five rating points to reach 214, 27 behind Ayub. He also climbed 10 places to 72nd in the bowling rankings. Nepal’s Lalit Rajbanshi (up six places to 51st among bowlers) and Aasif Sheikh (up three places to 77th among batters) also improved their standings following Nepal’s historic series win over the West Indies.
