Abhishek Sharma Takes Top T20I Spot in ICC Men's Rankings; Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja Jump in Tests
Synopsis
Abhishek Sharma is now the No.1 T20I batter, surpassing Australia’s Travis Head. He becomes the third Indian to reach the top spot after Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja also climbed the ICC Test rankings.
Team India’s promising and flamboyant batter Abhishek Sharma has become the No.1 batter in the T20Is, as per the official rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, July 30.
Abhishek claimed the No.1 T20I spot by dethroning Australia’s Travis Head, who slipped to the second position in the rankings. The 24-year-old inched closer to taking the top spot in the Men’s T20I Rankings after he jumped to second spot following his phenomenal 135-run innings against England at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in February this year.
With Abhishek Sharma claiming the No.1 spot in the T20I rankings, he became just the third Indian batter after Virat Kohli and Suryakumar to become the No.1 batter in the shortest format of the game at the international level. Sharma has a rating of 829 points, the 5th highest among the Indian batters in T20I history, behind Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Tilak Varma.
Recently, Virat Kohli became the second Indian batter after Suryakumar Yadav to breach 900 points in ratings following the ICC’s rankings update.
Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja make jump in Tests
Apart from Abhishek Sharma being the latest No.1 batter in T20Is, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja also made their jump in the Test rankings. Pant has stayed within the top 10 in the Men’s Test Batting Rankings, climbing a spot to reach No.7 following his gritty innings of 54 off 75 balls with a fractured toe in the Manchester Test.
Jadeja’s resilient century in the second innings of the Manchester Test has been rewarded with a new-career high in batting, jumping five spots to No.29 overall. The southpaw played an innings of 107 off 185 balls and formed an unbeaten 203-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Washington Sundar, who scored 101 off 206 balls, to salvage a draw before the series decider at The Oval.
Sundar jumped 8 places to take the 13th spot in the all-rounder's rankings following his match-saving century in the Manchester Test.
Team India’s lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah has remained unchanged as the No.1 Test bowler despite his lacklustre performance in the Manchester Test, where he leaked over 100 runs and scalped two in the first innings at Old Trafford.
The young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped to No.8 from 5th spot following his inconsistent performance in the ongoing Test series against England. In the Manchester Test, Jaiswal scored a fine 58 off 107 balls in the first innings, but he was dismissed for 4-ball duck in the second innings.
Joe Root retains as No.1 Test batter position
Meanwhile, England star batter Joe Root has retained his top spot in the latest Test rankings following his century against India in the Manchester Test. Root notched up his 38th Test century, equalling Kumar Sangakkara’s tally to become the joint-fourth highest century-maker in Test history, only behind Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, and Ricky Ponting.
Additionally, the former England captain overtook Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, and Jacques Kallis to become the second-leading run-getter in Tests, only behind Tendulkar. Root has amassed 13409 runs at an average of 51.17 and poses a serious challenge to surpass Tendulkar’s all-time record of 15921 runs.
England captain Ben Stokes made a jump by three places to take the No.3 spot in the Men’s all-rounders rankings following his fifer and a century in the Manchester Test. Stokes was the first England captain and the fifth after Imran Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad, Gary Sober, and Denis Aktinson to take five wickets and score a century in a Test match.
Meanwhile, Ben Duckett breaks into the Top 10 again by gaining five places to move to the 10th spot following his 94-run knock in the Manchester Test.