India captain Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday surged to a career-best ranking in the latest ICC T20I batting list after smashing his maiden century in the format in Tuesday’s series opener against the West Indies in Lucknow. Iyer, who scored an unbeaten 102 in India’s eight-wicket win, is now the country’s third-highest-ranked batter in T20I cricket.
Iyer, who had been struggling in T20I cricket since taking up the captaincy, responded to his critics in style, hitting 10 fours and six sixes in his 43-ball knock as the two-time defending T20 World Cup champions chased down 172 with 5.2 overs to spare.
Iyer became the third Indian captain to score a century in T20I cricket, joining Rohit Sharma (thrice) and Suryakumar Yadav; however, he remains the only one of the three to do it in a run chase. The previous highest score in the second innings by an Indian captain was 94 not out by Virat Kohli, against the same opponent in Hyderabad in 2019.
The explosive knock saw him jump 18 places to seventh in the ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings. Ishan Kishan still leads the rankings, with Abhishek Sharma second and vice-captain Tilak Varma 10th, meaning India have four batters in the top 10.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, meanwhile, who scored 53 runs in two matches during the recent Asian Games campaign in Japan, where India successfully defended their gold medal, jumped eight places to 46th.
Among the bowlers, Axar Patel gained 16 places to reach seventh after taking two wickets in three matches at the Asiad, where India beat Sri Lanka in the final.
India will be back in action in the second T20I against the West Indies on October 9 in Ranchi. India currently lead the five-match series 1-0.
In the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, India captain Shubman Gill consolidated his position at the top after his unbeaten 223 in the second ODI against the West Indies in Guwahati. His second double-century in the format, which was the highest score in an ODI run chase, helped him add 25 rating points and equal his career-best tally of 841 points. Former captain Virat Kohli slipped from second to third.
