Virat Kohli ousted from top 10, Shreyas Iyer takes a giant leap in ICC T20 rankings

SportsTak

In a massive ramification on the T20I batting rankings right after the shortest format series between India and Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli has faced an ouster from the top 10 spot. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has taken a massive jump of 27 spots to go up in the rankings after the Sri Lanka blitz. 


Virat Kohli, who was at the 10th spot after the conclusion of the 3-match T20I series against the West Indies, was rested for the final match of the series and the whole of the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Owing to this Virat dropped five places to 15th. On the other hand, Shreyas grabbed 18th spot after scoring three unbeaten half-centuries during India's 3-0 win against Sri Lanka in February, with the 27-year-old amassing an impressive 204 runs at a strike rate of 174. 


Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma also slipped 2 spots to 13th after an ordinary outing against the visiting Lankans in Lucknow and Dharamsala. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan continue to hold the top 2 spots in the ICC T20I Batting rankings for men. Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka scored an impressive 75 in the second game of the series, and he was rewarded with a six-spot rise to ninth on the rankings.


The other big mover with the bat in T20I cricket this week is Mohammad Waseem of the UAE. His unbeaten century against Ireland in the final of ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier A, helped him reach the 12th position with the bat. That is the highest T20I ranking by any UAE batter, surpassing Shaiman Anwar's 13th place achieved in 2017.


Among the bowlers, India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar jumped three spots to 17th on the bowler rankings. Sri Lanka's Lahiru Kumara's five wickets in the series with India have lifted him into the top 40 bowlers for the first time.


Other bowlers who enjoyed a successful time at the T20 World Cup Qualifier A include Zahoor Khan of UAE (up 17 places to joint-42nd) and Ireland's Josh Little (up 27 places to join-49th). Rohan Mustafa's successes with bat and ball have enabled him to move up to sixth place among all-rounders, just one place below his best of fifth achieved in February 2020. The biggest mover on the Test rankings was South African quick Kagiso Rabada, who shot up three places to third following his impressive display against hosts New Zealand.


Rabada managed 10 wickets during the two-match series, with his magnificent haul of 5/60 in the first innings of the second Test helping the Proteas on their way to an important 198-run triumph.


The kiwi duo of Kyle Jamieson (dropped two spots to fifth) and Tim Southee (dropped one spot to sixth) lost ground in the bowler rankings, with Australia captain Pat Cummins and India veteran Ravichandran Ashwin still leading the way.


Marnus Labuschagne remained as the top ranked Test batter, with New Zealander Devon Conway jumping six places to 17th following his 92 in the second innings of the second Test against South Africa.


In the ODI rankings for men, veteran spinner Rashid Khan re-claimed his spot in the top 10 for bowlers following five wickets from the recent three-game series against Bangladesh. Rashid jumped six spots to ninth, while teammate Mehidy Hasan Miraz dropped two spots to seventh following the series. Sri Lanka's Liton Das was the leading run-scorer in the ODI series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and he is up to a career-best 32nd with the bat. Trent Boult remained the top ranked ODI bowler, while Pakistan right-hander Babar Azam led the way for batters.