Babar Azam fell out of the top three in the ICC Men’s Batting T20I Rankings for the first time in 18 months, even as his teammate Mohammad Rizwan continued to hold on to his slender lead at the top.
Babar, who is in the midst of a rare slump of form, hit 68 runs in six games in the Asia Cup at an average of 11.33 and scored 31 in the first T20I against England on Tuesday. The Pakistan skipper was on top of the T20I batting charts at the start of the month but has now slipped down to No.4 – his lowest position since February 2021.
Suryakumar Yadav is now one of the three best batters in the world in the format, according to the rankings, having jumped up one place from fourth after a rapid 46 for India against Australia in Mohali in their opening game. He currently has 780 rating points – his career best – and is 45 points behind Rizwan, who continues to hold on to the top spot after displacing Babar in the first week of September.
Rizwan hit a fifty in Pakistan’s loss to England on Tuesday.
The second spot in the batting list belongs to Aiden Markram, who has 792 rating points and is 33 behind Pakistan’s wicketkeeper.
Hardik Pandya was the other big beneficiary in the latest ICC rankings. His unbeaten 71 off 30 balls not only helped him rocket up 22 places to 65th in the batting charts but also saw him jump two spots into the top five of the all-rounder rankings. He also has 180 rating points – his career best.
Axar Patel’s three-wicket haul in the first T20I against Australia saw him move up 24 spots to 33 in the bowler rankings, which is led by Josh Hazlewood. Haris Rauf (21) and Mohammad Nawaz (31) also made movements up the order.
The other big news was the re-entry of Alex Hales into the T20I batter rankings after a three-year hiatus from the format. He is currently 51st.
ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings (Batting)
Mohammad Rizwan – Pakistan
Aiden Markram – South Africa
Suryakumar Kumar – India
Babar Azam – Pakistan
Dawid Malan – England
Aaron Finch – Australia
Devon Conway – New Zealand
Pathum Nissanka – Sri Lanka
Muhammad Waseem – UAE
Reeza Hendricks – South Africa
ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings (Bowling)
Josh Hazlewood – Australia
Tabraiz Shamsi – South Africa
Adil Rashid – England
Rashid Khan – Afghanistan
Adam Zampa – Australia
Wanindu Hasaranga – Sri Lanka
Maheesh Theekshana – Sri Lanka
Mujeeb Ur Rahman – Afghanistan
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – India
Akeal Hosein – West Indies
ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings (All-rounder)
Shakib Al Hasan – Bangladesh
Mohammad Nabi – Afghanistan
Moeen Ali – England
Wanindu Hasaranga – Sri Lanka
Hardik Pandya – India
Glenn Maxwell – Australia
J.J Smit – Namibia
Zeeshan Maqsood – Oman
Rohan Mustafa – UAE
Dipendra Airee – Nepal
