Indian opener Abhishek Sharma dethroned Travis Head to become the No.1 ranked batter in the latest ICC T20I rankings. Abhishek, who has been in sensational form since making his debut in the shortest format of the game, joined Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav as the third Indian batter to achieve the feat.
Abhishek ended Head’s one-year reign at the top of the rankings as the Australian decided to sit out the recent series win against West Indies. Head took over the spot from Suryakumar after the T20 World Cup last year. The Punjab batter made his international debut right after the T20 World Cup win for India in 2024 during the tour of Zimbabwe. After a failure in the first game, Abhishek bounced back with a hundred in only his second appearance.
However, his recent performances in the series against South Africa and England earlier in the year has helped him climb to the top of the rankings. The 24-year-old scored 135 off just 54 balls in the final match against England at the Wankhede stadium and set the record for the highest T20I score by an Indian batter. He also became the fastest to reach a century in an innings in T20I history as he got to the mark in 10.1 overs.
Head is now in the second spot ahead of India;s Tilak Varma, who also enjoyed great success during the series against South Africa and England. India’s T20I skipper is 6th on the list and is the third Indian inside the top 10. Yashavi Jaiswal slipped two places down to 11th after the latest update.
In the bowling rankings, Jacob Duffy retained his spot at the top, while India’s Varun Chakravarty is in the No.3 spot. He is joined in the top 10 by Ravi Bishnoi, who is ranked No.7, and Arshdeep Singh, who dropped a place to No.10.
Axar Patel is ranked No.14 at the moment. All these players, including Abhishek, ware expected to be back in action during India’s Asia Cup campaign, which will begin on September 10 with the match against UAE.
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