ICC announces latest T20I player rankings after SAvAUS series

The latest International Cricket Council’s (ICC) T20I rankings saw some players from Australia taking a good leap ahead. Left-arm leg-spinner Ashton Agar went up six places to No.4 while names like David Warner, Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc also made big gains. The Kangaroos are on a roll as far as the shortest format of the game is concerned and recently beat South Africa 2-1 in a three-game away series.

Agar was in a decimating form in the series against the Proteas as he picked up his first international five-wicket haul in the first match in Johannesburg that Australia won by 107 runs. He again came to the party in the third and decisive clash in Cape Town by claiming three for 16 to give Australia a 97-run win that also gave them the series. He finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series with eight scalps. Agar made his T20I debut in Johannesburg four years ago and has picked 25 wickets in 24 games.

Adam Zampa remains top-ranked Aussie bowler in T20Is

While Agar went to slot No.4 in the T20Is, his spinning mate Adam Zampa saw an improvement of one slot to No.3 after finishing with five wickets in the series. Proteas Chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamshi took three wickets in the series and saw his ranking going up by three places to No.5.

Dashing Aussie left-hand opener Warner hit two fifties in the series to end up with 128 runs — the highest in the series for either team — and his batting ranking improved from No.25 to No.18. Australia skipper Aron Finch, Warner’s opening partner who also was adjudged the man of the series against SA, finished as the top-ranked batsman from his country and the third overall, behind Pakistan captain Babar Azam and India wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul.

Former Australia captain Steve Smith, who replaced India captain Virat Kohli from the No.1 position in Tests, also saw an improvement of 25 places in the T20Is to reach No.53 after his form in the particular format saw a big rise. He scored 104 runs in the series against SA, at a strike-rate of 142-plus.

Here are the latest ICC Test player rankings