Indian cricket’s next generation continued to shape the global T20 landscape as Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy held firm at the top of the ICC Men’s T20 Rankings released on Wednesday. The latest update reflects India’s growing depth in both batting and bowling ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Abhishek, who has surged rapidly in the format this year, retained the No. 1 spot among batters with 925 rating points, keeping England’s Phil Salt and teammate Tilak Verma behind him. T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav remained India’s only other top-10 batter, placed eighth.
In the bowling charts, Chakravarthy continued his dominance at the summit. The spinner leads West Indies’ Akeal Hosain and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, while Australia’s Josh Hazlewood made one of the week’s biggest jumps, rising two places to break into the top 10 following a strong home series against India.
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India’s presence in the all-rounders’ rankings remained limited, with Hardik Pandya the only player inside the top 10 at fourth. Pakistan’s Saim Ayub heads the list, followed by Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and West Indies’ Roston Chase.
The rankings update provided a further boost to Pakistan, who have won four of their five bilateral T20 series this year. The recent 2-1 victory over South Africa delivered significant gains, Babar Azam climbed nine places to joint 30th, Ayub jumped 10 spots to 39th, and Salman Agha moved up 10 positions to 54th among batters.
There were notable improvements elsewhere too. West Indies captain Shai Hope rose to 12th, Bangladesh’s Tanzid Hasan shot up 20 places to 17th, and Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran rose to 15th and 20th respectively.
The rankings, arriving months before the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, highlight an increasingly competitive field with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan all marking upward movement in key positions.
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