ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Kohli enters top 10 in T20I rankings; Bhuvneshwar, Pandya gain places

The Indians have had a winning start in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Some Indian players have fared well across departments and gained places in the latest ICC T20I Rankings.

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Former Indian skipper and star top-order batter Virat Kohli has stormed back into the top 10 of the Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) batting graph. He has risen five regions to the ninth spot in the updated rankings issued by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday. Kohli was rewarded for his heroics versus arch-rival Pakistan in India's 2022 ICC T20 World Cup opener against the Pakistanis at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) last Sunday. Kohli struck an unbeaten 82, guiding India to a remarkable final-ball conquest. This knock catapulted him into the top 10 of the T20I batters list. The 33-year-old struck six fours and four sixes in his grand innings.

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Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar jerked a couple of places to the tenth place in the bowlers' rankings. In contrast, Hardik Pandya has risen three slots to third in the all-rounders' diagram following his excellent start to the T20WC campaign. Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (849 rating points) continues to rule the top spot, while New Zealand opener Devon Conway (831) has risen three areas to replace Suryakumar Yadav in the second.

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Conway smashed an unbeaten 58-ball 92, helping New Zealand beat defending champion Australia by 89 runs in their opener. With 828 ratings in his bank, Suryakumar has dropped to third but remained ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (799) and Aiden Markram of South Africa (762). Finn Allen of New Zealand also proceeded, courtesy of his splendid knock of a 16-ball 42 versus Australia, helping him rise a whopping 17 classes to 13th.

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Bhuvneshwar has been rewarded for his neat figures of 1/22 from four overs versus Pakistan. Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan surpassed Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood to reclaim the No.1 T20I bowler's spot. Rashid gained the top billing on the back of an acceptable performance versus England, scalping the wicket of young Harry Brook and finishing with orderly figures of 1/17 from his four overs, despite a five-wicket defeat.

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Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga dropped three positions to sixth. At the same time, English seamer Sam Curran moved up eight places to eighth following his record-breaking five-wicket haul versus Afghanistan. In the meantime, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan stayed the top-ranked all-rounder, with Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan in the second and merely 14 rating points behind.

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Pandya rose to third on the chart after scalping three beneficial wickets versus Pakistan, combining well with Kohli later to score 40 during India's exciting chase.

(With inputs from PTI)