Powered by his marauding knocks in the World Twenty20 so far, Indian batsman Virat Kohli on Tuesday became the top-ranked batsman in the ICC rankings, while India remained static at the No.1 spot in the team list. Kohli, who averages 92 after scoring 184 runs in four matches at a strike-rate of over 132, had entered the tournament 24 points behind Aaron Finch, but has now opened up a 68-point advantage over the Australian, the ICC said in a statement.
In the bowlers’ table, West Indies’ Samuel Badree has displaced Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to return to the number-one position. Badree has taken six wickets in four matches to date, while Ashwin has dropped to third after managing just four wickets in as many matches. Four of the top five sides will feature in the semifinals of the ongoing tournament, which will be played in Delhi and Mumbai on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Number-one ranked India will go head to head with third-ranked West Indies in Mumbai on Thursday, while in the first semifinal in Delhi on Wednesday second-ranked New Zealand will square off against England, which is in fifth.
India has retained its pre-tournament ranking as well as points, while the West Indies has gained two points to move to 120. This means both the former champions, who each won three of their four second-round matches, are now separated by seven points. In contrast, New Zealand, which has been the only unbeaten side in the competition so far, has earned six points to rise to 122 and has consequently moved up two places to second.
Its semifinal opponent and 2010 champion, England, has also collected three points and is now seven points behind on 115 after winning three of its four matches. Meanwhile, there has been a reshuffling of the pack in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings as leading performers have been rewarded for their good performances.
Root zooms up
England’s Joe Root has rocketed 38 places to career-high 11th after scoring 168 runs in four matches at a strike-rate of 150. The Yorkshireman has gained 105 points in the tournament to date as he now has Zimbabwe’s eighth-ranked Hamilton Masakadza firmly within his sights. Martin Guptill is New Zealand’s highest-ranked batsman after the opener moved up two places to third following his contribution of 125 runs in three matches at a strike-rate of over 162.
West Indies’ flamboyant Chris Gayle has gained one place and is now ranked sixth after scoring 104 runs in two innings at a stunning strike-rate of 208. Among the bowlers, New Zealand’s Adam Milne and India’s trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra are the bowlers who have made impressive gains and are expected to feature in the final leg of what has been a highly-competitive tournament to date.
Milne’s three wickets in three matches have helped him rise six places to sixth, Jadeja’s four wickets in four matches have moved him up three places to seventh, Bumrah’s three wickets in four matches have lifted him 13 places to 13th and Nehra has leaped 14 places to 16th following his four wickets in as many matches. Australian Shane Watson has signed off on his T20 career
as the number-one ranked all-rounder. In the batting charts, Watson finished in 10th spot (up by three places) after scoring 96 runs, while he has ended up in 29th spot (up by five places) in the bowlers’ list after taking five wickets in four matches. Afghanistan, which consistently produced solid performances and eventually caused the biggest upset of the tournament to date by defeating the West Indies, has seen a number of players head upwards.
In the batting table, opener Mohammad Shahzad is now eighth (up by three places), while Asghar Stanikzai is 47{+t}{+h} (up by six places). In the bowlers’ table, Mohammad Nabi is ninth (up by 11 places), Rashid Khan is 11th (up by 68 places) and Hamza Hotak is 18th (up by 22 places).
While the team rankings will be updated after each match, the player rankings will now be updated after the final of the ICC World Twenty20.
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