Ishan Kishan jumps 68 places to becomes top-ranked Indian T20I batter

Dashing batter Ishan Kishan has become the highest-ranked T20I batter for Team India as he has made a massive leap in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Rankings. The left-handed batter jumped 68 places to reach the seventh spot in the elite list and is earning praises from different corners. Notably, Kishan made his international debut last year and has played just a handful of matches so far.

The 23-year-old is the only Indian batter to be in the top 10 batters with KL Rahul slipping to 14th rank. Regular kipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer have also dropped a rank each to 16th and 17th spots respectively, while former skipper Virat Kohli has dropped two places to 21st.

Ishan Kishan has been in excellent touch lately

Meanwhile, Kishan has been in excellent touch, having smashed 164 runs in just three outings including two fifties in the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa. These are still early days for Kishan in the T20I format as he has played only 13 matches for India and has scored 453 runs at an average of almost 38. He has also stroked four fifties and plays at a strike rate of 132.46.

Talking about India bowlers in the T20I rankings senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is up to seven places to 11th and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has climbed up four places to 26th. Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood now holds the top spot among T20 bowlers, while Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana is up 16 places to eighth in the list.

In the Test rankings, India’s Jasprit Bumrah has moved a spot to third, just behind his teammate and senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who remains static on the number two rank. Ashwin is also the second ranked all-rounder in the Test format as his teammate star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is placed first.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli have retained their seventh and 10th spots respectively in the Test batting rankings. Former England skipper Joe Root has regained the number one spot after scoring back-to-back centuries in an ongoing Test series against New Zealand. Root has replaced Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne to take the first spot.