ICC RANKINGS: KOHLI RISES TO 5TH SPOT IN T20I BATTER’S LIST

India skipper Virat Kohli has moved back into the top five while England star batsman Jos Buttler has re-entered the top 20 in the latest ICC men’s T20I rankings after blistering performances in their ongoing five-match series in Ahmedabad. Kohli, a formerly top-ranked batsman in the format and currently number one in ODIs, has gained […]

by Our Correspondent - March 19, 2021, 1:22 pm

India skipper Virat Kohli has moved back into the top five while England star batsman Jos Buttler has re-entered the top 20 in the latest ICC men’s T20I rankings after blistering performances in their ongoing five-match series in Ahmedabad.

Kohli, a formerly top-ranked batsman in the format and currently number one in ODIs, has gained one slot and a massive 47 rating points after unbeaten knocks of 73 and 77 in the second and third T20I. The India skipper is at the fifth spot and that has made him the only batsman to be placed in the top-5 across all three formats. Buttler’s match-winning 83 not out in the third match has helped him advance five places to the 19th position, just two shy of his career-best 17th position attained in October 2018. Shreyas Iyer (up 32 places to 31st) and Rishabh Pant (up 30 places to 80th) have gained among batsmen while all-rounder Washington Sundar (up two places to 11th) and seam bowlers Shardul Thakur (up 14 places to 27th) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (up seven places to 45th) have moved up the list for bowlers.

For England, Jonny Bairstow, who chipped in with 40 runs and was associated in an unbroken 77-run stand with Buttler in the eight-wicket win on Tuesday, has moved up two slots to 14th position in the list led by his compatriot Dawid Malan. Jason Roy has advanced four slots to 24th with scores of 49 and 46 in the first two matches.

Fast bowlers Jofra Archer (up 43 places to 34th) and Mark Wood (up 59 places to 39th), as well as left-arm seam bowler Sam Curran (up 41 places to 74th) have gained in the weekly update for men, carried out on Wednesdays.

In the men’s ODI rankings, wicketkeeper-batsman Shai Hope’s Player of the Series effort against Sri Lanka, in which he had scores of 110, 84 and 64, has helped him gain five slots and reach joint-seventh position, three off his career-best fourth position attained in May 2019.