Jasprit Bumrah reaches second position in latest ICC T20I rankings
India managed to clinch the T20I series 2-1 against Zimbabwe with a narrow win, but it wasn’t enough for them to grab the top spot in the latest ICC T20 rankings. The series turned out to be beneficial for Jasprit Bumrah, India’s fast bowling sensation, who took a jump of six places and reached a career-best rank of two.
Hailing from Ahmedabad, the 22-year old has impressed one and all since making his international debut against Australia in January this year. His ability to bowl yorkers at a good pace have made him an integral part of the team in a short span of time. Placed eighth before this, he took a six-rung leap, surpassing his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin as the highest ranked Indian bowler in the list.
Ashwin, who was not part of the tour to Zimbabwe, slipped to seventh, four places below his previously occupied position. He is now replaced by Imran Tahir, who has reached the third spot, 55 points ahead of Sunil Narine, who made a comeback to the national side in the ODI Tri-Series between West Indies, Australia and South Africa.
Samuel Badree continues to be the highest-ranked bowler, sitting firmly at the top with 790 points to his name and 46 points clear of Bumrah. Badree reached his career best points (855) against Pakistan in 2014. Apart from Bumrah and Ashwin, there is no other Indian in the top 10. Barinder Sran, who secured the Man of the Series award in the recently concluded series, broke into the rankings, occupying the 225th position. Ravindra Jadeja and Ashish Nehra occupy the 19th and 20th positions respectively.
In the batting rankings, Virat Kohli is firmly entrenched at the top with 837 points to his credit. He is 34 points clear of the second-placed Aaron Finch. Martin Guptill of New Zealand stands third on 754 points. Owing to his half-century in the final T20 of the series, Kedar Jadhav made a massive jump in the rankings, moving 181 points to reach 106th. Mandeep Singh and Lokesh Rahul, India’s opening batsmen for the T20Is, made a comeback into the rankings, occupying the 100th and 102nd position respectively. Manish Pandey reached the 152nd position (up by 119 places) and Ambati Rayudu occupied the 217th (up by 133 places) rank.
For Zimbabwe, Elton Chigumbura jumped up by 11 places to reach the 41st spot. Peter Moor also gained 52 points to occupy the 110th position. As far as their bowling is concerned, Neville Madziva and Taurai Muzarabani moved to the 126th and 148th positions respectively, on the back of their performances against India in the T20 series.
Here are the overall rankings (as of 23rd June 2016)
| POSITION | PLAYER | RATINGS |
| 1 | VIRAT KOHLI (IND) | 837 |
| 2 | AARON FINCH (AUS) | 803 |
| 3 | MARTIN GUPTILL (NZ) | 754 |
| 4 | JOE ROOT (ENG) | 750 |
| 5 | FRANCOIS DU PLESSIS (SA) | 741 |
| 6 | KANE WILLIAMSON (NZ) | 719 |
| 7 | ALEX HALES (ENG) | 713 |
| 8 | CHRIS GAYLE (WI) | 696 |
| 9 | MOHAMMAD SHAHZAD (AFG) | 674 |
| 10 | SHANE WATSON (AUS) | 664 |
| POSITION | PLAYER | RATINGS |
| 1 | SAMUEL BADREE (WI) | 790 |
| 2 | JASPRIT BUMRAH (IND) | 744 |
| 3 | IMRAN TAHIR (SA) | 740 |
| 4 | SUNIL NARINE (WI) | 685 |
| 5 | SHAHID AFRIDI (PAK) | 674 |
| 6 | KYLE ABBOTT (SA) | 671 |
| 7 | R ASHWIN (IND) | 670 |
| 8 | ADAM MILNE (NZ) | 655 |
| 9 | JAMES FAULKNER (AUS) | 641 |
| 10 | MOHAMMAD NABI (AFG) | 638 |