Brendon McCullum, Ajmal top T20 rankings; Yuvraj re-enters at 15th spot

Kiwi Dasher Brendon McCullum and Pakistan offie Saeed Ajmal have taken over as the leading batsman and bowler in the latest Reliance ICC Twenty20 Player Rankings, an ICC media release said on Thursday.

The latest rankings included the Pakistan-Australia, India-New Zealand and England-South Africa series, which were a tune-up to the ICC World Twenty20, scheduled to begin on September 18 in Sri Lanka.

McCullum hit a blistering 91 off 55 balls against India at Chennai in the only T20 possible during the series. His heroics helped him climb to the top position.

Aussie star David Warner, meanwhile, leapt six places in the chart to move to the fourth spot after a quickfire 59 against Pakistan. That knock also included six blows beyond the boundary.

Yuvraj Singh marked his return to cricket and the rankings with a solid 34, albeit in a losing cause. He sits on the 15th spot as of now.

Suresh Raina got a major confidence booster ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka, emerging as the highest-placed Indian batsmen at number three, in the latest ICC Player Rankings for the shortest format.

Eoin Morgan was the chief loser in terms of ranking places, moving from the top spot to ninth on the table.

Saeed Ajmal became the number one ranked ODI bowler last week. He followed it up with six wickets in the T20 series victory over Australia to trump Graeme Swann as the top-ranked Twenty20 bowler.

Ajmal's overall rating of 782 points is also a career best.

Meanwhile, Shane Watson moved up eight places to seventh in the bowler' table with his highest ever rating of 650. Watson also holds the number-one rank in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders with his highest-ever rating of 475, achieved in the series against Pakistan.  

Meanwhile, England heads into the ICC World Twenty20 2012 as the number-one ranked team on the Reliance ICC T20 Championship table. England leveled the three-match series against South Africa 1-1 with a win in the third and final match to reclaim the number one spot.