T20 World Cup 2022: Suryakumar Yadav becomes No. 1 batter in ICC Men's T20I rankings, overtakes Mohammad Rizwan
In-form Team India cricketer Suryakumar Yadav has become the No. 1 batter in the updated ICC Men’s T20I player rankings that were released on Wednesday, November 2. Suryakumar has taken over the top slot from Pakistan’s prolific wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.
The Mumbai batter has carried on his amazing run with the willow in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. He was Player of the Match for his unbeaten 51 off 25 balls against the Netherlands and followed it up with another half-century against South Africa.
Even as the other Men in Blue batters failed to stand up to the Proteas pacers on a pacy Perth surface, Suryakumar launched a stunning counter-attack, slamming 68 off 40 balls. His knock featured six fours and three sixes. Captain Rohit Sharma’s 15 was the next-best score in the Indian innings.
Following his exploits in the T20 World Cup, the 32-year-old now has 863 points, while Rizwan has 842 points to his name.
Suryakumar Yadav: Team India’s T20I run machine
Suryakumar has eight half-centuries and one superb hundred to his name in the T20I format this year. In three matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup, he has notched up 134 runs with a best of 68 at an average of 67 and a stupendous strike rate of 178.67.
Overall, the right-handed batter has hammered 1179 runs in 37 T20I matches at an average of 40.65 and a strike rate of 177.02.
Among other batters who have impressed in the ongoing T20 World Cup, South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw and New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips have also made impressive gains in the ICC Men’s T20I batting rankings.
Rossouw struck a brilliant century against Bangladesh in Sydney and has climbed 17 places to eighth in the latest T20I batter rankings. Phillips, who smashed a sensational 104 against Sri Lanka, has jumped five places and is at No. 7 in the latest rankings. Phillips’ teammate, opener Devon Conway is at No. 3 in the ICC T20I rankings for batters.
Shifting focus to bowlers, Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has climbed four spots to second in the T20I rankings. The Lankan leggie is the leading wicket-taker (13) in this year’s T20 World Cup so far.
While Hasaranga has 697 points, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan (700) retained the top spot. South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi (694) and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood (692) are at No .3 and No. 4, respectively, in the rankings.
England all-rounder Sam Curran has moved up two places to No. 6 in the ICC bowling rankings, while South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje has gained 11 places and is at No. 8.