Dubai, Jan 29 (UNI) England spinner Adil Rashid has been rewarded for his excellent recent form by re-claiming his position at the top of the ICC Men’s T20I Bowling Rankings.
Rashid first claimed the No.1 ranking for T20I bowlers at the end of 2023 and remained in the premier spot for much of last year until fellow spinner Akeal Hosein overtook him prior to Christmas.
But a trio of strong showings with the ball against India away from home has helped Rashid return to the top, with the England right-armer gaining one place on the latest rankings following an excellent effort in the third T20I against the Asian side in Rajkot.
Rashid claimed the economical figures of 1/15 from four overs in the clash to help England clinch a narrow 26-run victory that keeps the series alive, with the 36-year-old now having collected a total of three scalps across the first three matches of the five-game series that India leads 2-1.
There is further movement inside the top 10 of the T20I bowling charts, with India spinner Varun Chakravarthy climbing 25 places to fifth following his five-wicket haul in Rajkot and England pacer Jofra Archer jumping 13 spots to sixth overall after two wickets in the same match.
India spinner Axar Patel sits just outside the top 10 after moving up five spots to 11th on the same list, while there is a new challenger to Australia star Travis Head at the top of the rankings for T20I batters after young left-hander Tilak Varma jumped one spot to second.
While Head still holds a 23-point lead at the top of the batter rankings, Varma is hot on his heels following scores of 19 not out, 72 not out and 18 from three hits for India so far against England.
He could theoretically overtake Head with a pair of good scores during the final two matches of the series, with Head currently representing Australia against Sri Lanka at Test level in Galle. If Varma does manage to overtake Head, he will become the youngest-ever player to top the rankings.
The current record for that is held by Babar Azam, who became the No.1-ranked T20I batter at the age of just 23 years and 105 days.
Varma’s 832 points are the fourth-best by an Indian batter in the batting rankings, bettered only by Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul.
Abhishek Sharma (up 59 places to 40th) also makes big gains up the list for T20I batters, while Liam Livingstone (up five places to equal 32nd) and Ben Duckett (up 28 rungs to equal 68th) are the biggest movers from an England perspective.
There is also some change on the latest Test rankings following the series between Pakistan and the West Indies that finished 1-1, with a pair of bowlers making the biggest move via strong performances during the second Test in Multan.
Pakistan spinner Noman Ali jumps four places and moves to fifth overall on the list for Test bowlers following his 10-wicket match haul, while West Indies counterpart Jomel Warrican gains 16 spots to climb to 25th following his Player of the Series heroics that netted 19 scalps.
Noman is just the 12th Pakistan bowler to go past the 800-points mark in Test bowling rankings.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah remains out in front of the Test bowlers rankings following his superb series against Australia Down Under and recently claimed the honour of winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year in 2024.
Warrican also rises to 24th on the list for Test all-rounders, while Pakistan veteran Mohammad Rizwan (up two spots to 15th) is the biggest mover on the list for Test batters that is still headed by England veteran Joe Root.
