ICC T20I Rankings: Suryakumar Yadav asserts his dominance at the top

Indian middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav has kept his top spot in the ICC men's T20I batting rankings, published on Wednesday, following his incredible outing in the just-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. He became the No.1 T20I batter after a beautiful showing in the Super 12 stage of the T20WC, where he busted three half-centuries in five innings. That implementation allowed him to reach a career-best rating of 869 points. Although his rating dropped to 859 with his dismissal for 14 in the semi-final versus eventual champion England, he has managed to stay on top.

The 32-year-old Surya piled up 239 runs during the T20WC at an exceptional average and strike rate of 59.75 and 189.68, respectively, besides finishing as the event's third-highest run-scorer. English opener Alex Hales, who hit an unbeaten 86 in 47 balls in the semi-final versus India, jumped significantly, ascending 22 places up to No. 12.

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Hales concluded as England's second-highest run-scorer in the T20WC, scoring 212 at an average of 42.40. Hales has been in superb form since his return to the side earlier this year. He has collected 430 Twenty20 International (T20I) runs this year, at an astonishing average of 30.71 and an equally reasonable strike rate of 145.27.

Babar Azam and Rilee Rossouw are other batters to make progress in the top 10. The Pakistan captain scored a match-winning 50 in the semi-final versus New Zealand, gaining a place to climb up to No. 3. Rilee Rossouw of South Africa also jerked up to seventh after Glenn Phillips of New Zealand sank to the eighth. Rossouw had cut a splendid ton versus Bangladesh in the T20WC.

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Other batters in the top five besides Suryakumar and Azam are Mohammad Rizwan, Devon Conway and Aiden Markram. Rizwan and Markram have held on to their second and fifth classes, respectively, whereas Conway slipped to fourth after losing third place to Azam. In the bowling charts, England's Adil Rashid has been the largest gainer after his exceptional performances in the semi-final versus India and the final versus Pakistan.

Rashid enlisted figures of 1/20 and 2/22 in the couple of matches, gaining five zones to move to third. His compatriot Sam Curran also accumulated two positions to move to fifth after a Player of the Match performance of 3/12 in the final versus Pakistan. Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga remains the top-ranked bowler, followed by Afghanistan's Rashid Khan. In the all-rounders' rankings, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Hardik Pandya inhabit the top three zones, respectively.

(With inputs from PTI)