The International Cricket Council (ICC) on January 05 (Thursday) released the latest T20I rankings and swashbuckling right-handed batter Suryakumar Yadav continues to occupy the top spot despite ensuring a rare failure with the bat against Sri Lanka in the first T20I on January 03 (Tuesday). Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan earned a much-deserved jump of 10 paces and is now ranked 23rd. Deepak Hooda stormed into the top 100 after his latest heroics with the bat. The explosive right-handed batter jumped 40 places to 97th in the rankings.
Kishan was rewarded after he played a handy cameo of 37 runs off 29 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes in the first T20I against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Hooda batted exceptionally well in the same match and his thunderous cameo at the end helped India put a competitive total on the board. The 27-year-old scored an unbeaten 41 runs off just 23 balls with the help of one four and four sixes.
Apart from Suryakumar, no other Indian batter occupies a spot in the top 10. Virat Kohli is ranked 13th while KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma are ranked 20th and 21st respectively.
In bowling, Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga continued to sit at the top of the rankings. India, meanwhile, doesn't have even a single bowler in the top 10 as Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the highest-ranked Indian bowler (11th).
After clinching a nerve-jangling first T20I contest by two runs, Hardik Pandya-led Team India would look to secure the series when they square off against Sri Lanka in the second T20I at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on January 05 (Thursday). Indian batters and bowlers will have another opportunity to improve their rankings with solid performance in the Pune T20I.
