Virat Kohli slips to 10th in ICC T20I rankings, Babar Azam retains his top spot

Despite suffering a thumping defeat against New Zealand in the ODI series, the Men in Blue were ecstatic with their performance in the T20I series, where they decimated the Kiwis in all three departments. Over the years, India has managed to stitch together a robust squad in the shortest format. From pinch-hitters to death-over specialists– Virat Kohli and Co. is equipped with many match-winners of the T20 format. And as one would expect, a few Indian players have paved their way into the ICC T20I Men’s rankings.

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli– who have been a pivotal element of Team India’s batting force– are a part of newly-released ICC Men’s T20I batsmen rankings. While Pakistan’s Babar Azam retained his top spot in the rankings, skipper Virat Kohli slipped to the 10th spot. Despite playing gritty knocks in the T20I series against the Kiwis, the Indian skipper failed to amass a single half-century under his belt.

Kohli was pipped by England skipper Eoin Morgan, who showcased excellent batting performance in the recently-concluded T20I series against the Proteas. Morgan amassed 136 runs in three T20Is to replace Kohli on the ninth spot. With the T20 World Cup 2020 in sight, many stalwarts are expected to climb up the rankings.

KL Rahul is now 56 points behind Babar Azam

Currently going through a purple patch, KL Rahul has proved his worth in the Indian side by delivering consistent performances day in, day out. Rahul was one of the prime reasons behind India’s dominance over hosts New Zealand in the T20I series. The Karnataka player, who also diligently performed the duty of keeping the gloves, clinched the second spot behind Babar Azam. Rahul is 56 points behind the first-place Azam, who has 879 points to his name.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s deputy Rohit Sharma failed to break into the Top-10 as he secured the 11th spot in the rankings with 662 points. One significant jump in the rankings was of South Africa‘s newly-appointed skipper Quinton de Kock, who notched up to 16th position. The left-hander gathered 31, 65 and 35 in the three-match series against England to enhance his T20I ranking.

Afghanistan duo clinched the top two spots in bowlers’ rankings

Meanwhile, the bowlers’ rankings were dominated by two Afghanistan stalwarts– Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. One surprising fact was that no Indian bowler made it to the Top-10 list. The bowlers’ rankings list was dominated by spinners as the only pacer in the rankings was Andile Phehlukwayo.  Following the Rashid-Mujeeb duo, Mitchell Santner clinched the third spot with 677 points. Adam Zampa, who is only three points behind Santner, secured the fourth spot along with Pakistan’s Imad Wasim at No.5.

Mohammad Nabi retained his top spot in all-rounders’ list

There were not any significant changes in the all-rounders’ list as Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi retained his No.1 spot with 319 points, followed by Australia’s Glenn Maxwell with a massive gap with 231 points. Scotland’s Richard Berrington secured the fourth spot with 194 points with UAE’s Rohan Mustafa with 156 points