India’s Abhishek Sharma makes massive stride in T20I batting rankings

West Indies' Akeal Hosein reclaims top spot in T20I bowling rankings

February 05, 2025
India´s Abhishek Sharma celebrates scoring a century during the fifth T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 2, 2025. — AFP

DUBAI: India’s explosive opener Abhishek Sharma made a massive jump in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20I batting rankings after the T20I series against England.

The left-handed opener broke a plethora of records with his quickfire 54-ball 135 in the final T20I against the former champions.

He recorded the highest individual score by an Indian batter in men’s T20Is with a sensational knock, comprised of 13 sixes.

Sharma reached the triple figures on just 37 deliveries, which was the second-fastest century by an Indian batter in the format.

As a result, the 24-year-old jumped 38 places to second in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings, headed by Australia’s Travis Head with 855 rating points.

Abishek’s astounding rise resulted in teammate Tilak Verma slipping to the third spot, while skipper Suryakumar Yadav holds the fifth position.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ace batter Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan both slipped a spot and moved to seventh and ninth position, respectively.

There were equally significant movements at the top of the ICC Men’s T20I bowling rankings as India’s Varun Chakravarthy jumped three places to a joint second, while West Indies’ Akeal Hosein reclaimed the top spot.

Another Indian who enjoyed a notable rise was Ravi Bishnoi as he climbed four places to sixth, thanks to his five wickets in the recently-concluded T20I series against England.

The latest Test rankings saw a number of Australian players gaining ground after a dominating victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test.

Stand-in skipper Steve Smith jumped three places to move up to fifth while opening batter Usman Khawaja improved six places to secure the 11th spot after registering his highest Test score of 232 during the aforementioned fixture.

Australia’s bowlers also enjoyed upward movements as experienced spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc both jumped two spots to claim sixth and 12th position, respectively.

Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.

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