Dubai, Sep 16 (IANS): India’s Abhishek Sharma climbed to second place in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings released on Wednesday, while teammate Ishan Kishan retained the top spot after the reigning T20 World Cup champions took an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match series against Afghanistan.
Abhishek moved up one place after his blistering 82 in the series opener, overtaking Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan. The left-hander now trails Kishan by 51 rating points, who continues to lead the T20I batting chart.
Sanju Samson was another Indian batter to make significant progress, climbing four places to 30th after his fine half-century in the second match against Afghanistan.
India also made notable gains in the T20I bowling rankings. Varun Chakaravarthy rose two places to fifth, while Jasprit Bumrah climbed seven places to 10th. Arshdeep Singh made an 11-place jump to 14th, and Axar Patel rose six places to 27th after a good display against the hosts.
Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai also climbed the T20I all-rounder rankings after scoring an unbeaten half-century in the opening match of the series.
Three Australian players gained places in the ODI rankings following their 59-run victory over Zimbabwe in the series opener in Harare.
Australia pacer Nathan Ellis rose 20 places to 20th among ODI bowlers after taking a five-wicket haul. Matthew Renshaw, named Player of the Match for his 109, moved from outside the top 100 to 68th among batters.
Cooper Connolly also climbed nine places to 77th in the ODI batting rankings after scoring 51 at No. 3 against Zimbabwe.
In the Test rankings, England pacer Ollie Robinson reached a new career-high rating and moved up two places to third among bowlers after taking 21 wickets in the recent three-Test series against Pakistan.
England teammate Josh Tongue also achieved a career-best ranking, climbing two places to 11th after taking 19 wickets in the series.
Robinson’s half-century in the third Test at Birmingham also helped him climb seven places to 13th in the Test all-rounder rankings.
Despite Pakistan’s 3-0 series defeat, skipper Babar Azam rose two places to 13th among Test batters, while Shan Masood climbed four places to 37th for his brilliant batting in the final match of the series. England wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith also moved up three places to 20th after his half-century in the first innings of the third Test.
