Abhishek Sharma has strengthened his hold on the top spot in the ICC T20I batting rankings following India’s World Cup triumph. Despite an up-and-down campaign, he delivered when it mattered, striking a fine half-century in the final to stay ahead in the charts. Close behind him is fellow Indian batter Ishan Kishan, who has climbed to second place. The wicketkeeper batter enjoyed a steady tournament and capped it off with a fluent fifty in the summit clash against New Zealand.
Abhishek now sits on 875 rating points, with that blistering 21-ball 52 in the title clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium ensuring he stays out in front. Right behind him, Ishan (871) made a strong surge with a 52 off 25 balls in the final and a rapid 39 off 18 in the semifinal against England. His consistent performance throughout the tournament lifted him past Phil Salt and Sahibzada Farhan into second place.
With only four rating points between them, Ishan remains firmly in the race to join Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek as just the fourth Indian to claim the No.1 spot in the format.
The previous instance of teammates holding the top two ranking positions came in September 2022, when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan achieved the feat for Pakistan.
Player of the Tournament Sanju Samson surged 18 places to reach 22nd, while Shivam Dube climbed four spots to 27th in the batting rankings after their strong performances.
Varun Chakravarthy loses his top spot
Meanwhile, Varun Chakravarthy has lost his top spot in the bowling charts despite finishing the T20 World Cup as the leading wicket-taker, as Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan is back at the top of the table. Varun picked 14 wickets in nine matches during the tournament, but in the second half of it, he leaked too many runs, which hurt his economy.
India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah climbed one place to sixth in the latest rankings after a match-winning spell in the final, where he returned figures of four for 15 and earned the Player of the Match award. Several others also made notable gains. Axar Patel jumped six spots to 17th, while Hardik Pandya moved up four places to 46th. Among other movers, South Africa’s quick Kagiso Rabada advanced three positions to break into the top 50, reflecting a shake-up in the bowling charts.
