The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini-auction was full of surprises. Australian skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc broke the Rs 20 crore barrier whereas few big names remained unsold. One of the in-form players which could not pique the interest of any of the franchises was Adil Rashid who was crowned no.1 T20I bowlers hours after the auction concluded.
Rashid who has taken seven wickets from four games in the five-T20I series against West Indies reached the summit. On the other hand, Ravi Bishnoi had to let go of the top spot as he was benched during the T20I series against South Africa despite a stellar show in the home T20I series against Australia.
Rashid who made his IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the previous season had opted for a base price of Rs 2 crore. Rashid became the second bowler to climb to the no.1 spot in the T20I bowlers rankings after off-spinner Graeme Swann. The former cricketer had held the spot more than a decade ago.
Interestingly, the top four bowlers in the rankings are leg-spinners. Rashid is followed by Afghanistan's Rashid Khan who has been out of action as he is recovering after going under the knife. The third spot is occupied by Bishnoi followed by Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga. Also, there are just two fast bowlers in the top 10. Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi is on the seventh spot whereas Australia's Josh Hazlewood is on 10th.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav extended his lead over other batters after scoring a century in the third and final T20I of the series against South Africa. He has 887 rating points, 100 more than second-placed Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan. The only other Indian batter on the list is opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. He scored a century against Australia in the T20I series.
West Indies' Brandon King is the only new addition to the top 10. He scored an unbeaten 82 against England in the second T20I of the series. He jumped six places to move to the sixth spot. He is the only West Indies batter in the top 10 list.
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