Suryakumar Yadav flies higher to stretch ICC T20I rankings lead

Dynamic India batter Suryakumar Yadav stretched his lead at the top of the ICC T20I batter rankings following his quickfire half-century against South Africa in the rain-marred second match at St George's Park on December 12, Tuesday. 

He made 56 off just 36 deliveries, including five boundaries and three maximums. The right-handed batter accumulated ten rating points following his knock. The 33-year-old currently has a total of 865 rating points which is higher than Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan (787 rating points) and South Africa's Aiden Markram (758) who are trailing behind the Indian captain.

Since making his T20I debut for India in 2021, he has quickly established himself as one of the best batters in the game's shortest format. The Mumbai-born batter famously gained the first-rate rank in November 2022 after the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia. In that year, he scored over 1000 runs in T20Is which made him the first Indian batter to achieve the feat in a calendar year. Following a remarkable season in 2022, the middle-order batter was even named as the Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

In addition, South Africa opener Reeza Hendricks jumped one place to eighth following his crucial 27-ball 49 runs against India. Meanwhile, young India batter Tilak Varma (up 10 spots to 55th) and Rinku Singh (up 46 places to equal 59th) also made some significant progress in the rankings. During the second T20I, Varma scored 29 off 20 balls while Rinku played a gritty knock of 68* off a mere 39 deliveries.

Furthermore, South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi moved up two places to tenth in the T20I bowler rankings following a notable economical spell of 1/18 against India. Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, climbed five places to 32nd, while Proteas' Aiden Markram enhanced two places to second spot on the latest T20I rankings for all-rounders.