DUBAI, SEPT 25,
Rohit Sharma moved up a place to world number eight as India skipper Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan inched closer to a top 10 spot in the latest ICC T20 Rankings for batsmen released on Wednesday. Kohli’s unbeaten 72 in the second T20I of the three-match series against South Africa that ended in a 1-1 draw, has seen him gain one spot and reach 11th in the list while Dhawan has moved up three places to 13th after scores of 40 and 36.
Rohit is tied at the eighth spot with England’s Alex Hales. Both batsmen have 664 points.In the bowlers’ ranking, Washington Sundar is the top ranked Indian. He moved eight spots to be placed 50th.
The latest rankings take into account the India-South Africa series, the Bangladesh tri-series featuring Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, as well as the Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands tri-series.
Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai and Scotland’s George Munsey achieved new highs for their respective teams.
Fifth-ranked Zazai’s 727 points are the highest by an Afghanistan batsman in history while 21st-ranked Munsey became the first Scotland batsman to reach 600 points after scoring an unbeaten 127 off just 56 balls against the Netherlands before dropping to 585 at the end of the series.
The series in India also saw South Africa’s Quinton de Kock move up from 49th to 30th, his highest position in two years, after scores of 52 and 79 not out.
Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has reached the top 20 in the bowlers’ list for the first time while Andile Phehlukwayo has achieved a career-best ranking of seventh.
There were also some interesting facts in the Bangladesh tri-series. Captain Hamilton Masakadza retired from international cricket in 22nd place as Zimbabwe’s highest ranked batsman at the time and Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has moved into the top 10 with seven wickets in the series.
The Ireland series saw the Dutch pair of Ben Cooper and Max O’Dowd achieve their highest rankings at joint 41st among batsmen, while Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien has achieved a career-high 459 rating points in batting.
In the T20 team rankings, India are placed fourth below South Africa (3rd), England (2nd) and top-ranked Pakistan.
