KL Rahul Surges In ICC T20I Rankings, Aaron Finch Tops The Chart

After a solid performance in the Twenty20 International (T20I) series against England, India batsman KL Rahul rose nine spots to take third place in the latest ICC T20I rankings released on Monday. The 26-year-old Rahul notched up scores of 70, 101 not out, 6 and 19 in his previous four innings to grab his career-high spot. Meanwhile, teammate Rohit Sharma, who was adjudged the man of the series in the three-match T20I series against England which India won 2-1, climbed two places to take the 11th rank whereas skipper Virat Kohli tumbled four places to occupy 12th place. However, Australia opener Aaron Finch became the first player in the history of T20I to break the 900-point mark as he moved up three places to finish the tri-series in Harare also involving Pakistan and Zimbabwe as the top-ranked batsman.

Finch, who captained Australia to the final, touched the 900-point mark following his record-breaking knock of 172 (76b, 10x6, 16x4) against Zimbabwe in Harare on 3 July. The 31-year-old from Victoria eventually finished the T20Is (also comprising a one-off against England at Edgbaston) in number-one position on 891 points. He had started the T20Is in fourth position on 763 points and a tour aggregate of 391 runs not only helped him leapfrog Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Glen Maxwell, but also earned him 128 points.

Like Finch, Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman was in stellar form in Harare, when he totaled 278 runs in the series, including a match-winning 91 against Australia after Pakistan had slumped to two for two after being set a victory target of 184. Fakhar's string of good scores, that also included knocks of 61, 6, 47 and 73 helped him vault 44 places to claim second position. He has now become Pakistan's highest-ranked batsman after Babar Azam slipped from first to fifth due to his absence because of an injury.

In the bowling table, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Shadab Khan of Pakistan have retained the top two positions, but there have been a number of movements down the order with Australia's Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake, and England's trio of Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey achieving career-high rankings.

Tye has risen 41 places to seventh in the latest rankings after taking 12 wickets in Harare, Rashid has claimed ninth position after moving up four places, Plunkett has gained 14 places and is now in 11th spot, Willey has risen 12 places to 15th and Stanlake's seven wickets have given him a leap of 60 places that has put him in 19th position.

There is no change in the top three all-rounders, with Maxwell leading the field. Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi is second, while Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is third.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have retained the top position with their tri-series victory while India have overtaken Australia to take second place after clinching their three-match series against England 2-1. The top three sides are now separated by 10 points, while three points separate fourth-ranked England and seventh-ranked West Indies.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Lokesh Rahul Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Cricket