Abhishek, Chakravarthy Hold Top ICC Rankings; Raza Climbs to No. 1 All-Rounder

New Delhi: India’s opening batter Abhishek Sharma has retained the No. 1 position in the ICC T20I batting rankings, while India’s Varun Chakravarthy continues to lead the T20I bowlers’ list with a slim margin over Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza has surged to the top spot among T20I all-rounders in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday.

Abhishek remains firmly at the top with 909 rating points, ahead of England’s Phil Salt (821), Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan (769), England’s Jos Buttler (766), and Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka (754).

Several players also made notable progress in the batting rankings. New Zealand’s Tim Seifert climbed one place to eighth, Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis jumped six spots to 12th, Scotland’s George Munsey moved up seven places to joint 23rd, India’s Ishan Kishan rose seven positions to 25th, and the Netherlands’ Michael Levitt advanced six spots to 27th.

In the bowling rankings, Chakravarthy continues to hold the top position, narrowly ahead of Abrar Ahmed. Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga was the only significant mover within the top 10, rising one place to fifth.

There were several changes outside the top 10, with India’s Arshdeep Singh moving up three places to 11th, Salman Mirza climbing nine spots to 13th, Zimbabwe’s Brad Evans jumping 16 places to joint 15th, New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner moving up four spots to joint 19th, and Scotland’s Bradley Currie surging 25 places to 24th.

In the all-rounders’ rankings, Raza reclaimed the No. 1 spot following Zimbabwe’s strong start to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe registered an impressive eight-wicket victory over Oman in their tournament opener in Colombo, with Raza playing a key role with both bat and ball.

Raza delivered an economical bowling spell, taking 1/17 in four overs to restrict Oman to 103 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. He later struck the winning runs to seal Zimbabwe’s victory. His performance helped him climb one place in the rankings, overtaking Pakistan opener Saim Ayub to secure the top position — a ranking he had previously held late last year.

With inputs from IANS