ICC T20I Rankings: Suryakumar Yadav surpasses Babar Azam to be placed third among batters

The latest ICC T20I Rankings have been released. Suryakumar Yadav has jumped to third place in the rankings and leapfrogged Babar Azam. Other Indians have also had significant gains.

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Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav has superseded Pakistan skipper Babar Azam to take the third spot in the Twenty20 International (T20I) list of batters in the latest ICC Men's Player Rankings, issued by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday. Yadav was impressive with a fine knock of 46 during India's four-wicket defeat to Australia in the opening T20I of its three-match series at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday. The knock also allowed him to close in on Pakistan's wicketkeeper-opener Mohammad Rizwan, who sits at the chart's summit. The right-hander ejected Babar from the third place, while Rizwan is now just 45 rating points ahead.

On Tuesday, Rizwan struck a half-century during Pakistan's failure against England at the National Stadium in Karachi, maintaining a limited benefit at the top with a career-high 825 rating points. Aiden Markram (792 ratings) of South Africa is in the second, ahead of Yadav (780). Babar dropped fourth in the latest rankings following his underperformance at the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 31 against England in the opening match of the series.

Dawid Malan (725) of England and Australian skipper Aaron Finch (715) end the top 6. Besides Yadav, star Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya jumped 22 spots to 65th overall following his superb unbeaten 71 against Australia. In comparison, all-rounder teammate Axar Patel boosted 24 places to 33rd among the bowlers after accumulating three wickets on Tuesday.

Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood maintained his top spot in the bowling chart after collecting the critical wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the T20I series opener. English spinner Adil Rashid is placed third, behind Hazlewood and second-placed Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa, following a two-for against Pakistan.

On the other hand, returning veteran Alex Hales of England has re-entered the T20I batter rankings after a three-year pause from T20Is. Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf has shot up four places to 21st after a powerful presentation against England, while spinner-all-rounder teammate Mohammad Nawaz has jumped three spots to 31st.

(With inputs from PTI)