IND vs. SL 2021: Bhuvneshwar Kumar becomes India's highest-ranked bowler in ICC T20I Rankings
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has become Team India's highest-ranked player in the ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers. In the recently released ICC Rankings, Kumar overtook compatriot Washington Sundar and attained 16th position.
Kumar has 588 rating points to his name, three more than the 16th-placed Sundar. The reason behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar's rise was his excellent performance in the first T20I against Sri Lanka.
The 31-year-old returned with figures of 4/22 to help India win the match comfortably.
Prior to the series against Sri Lanka, Kumar had scalped four wickets in the five-match T20I series versus England. His economical spells played a crucial role in India's series victory against Eoin Morgan's men.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has overtaken Afghanistan's Rashid Khan to bag second position in the latest ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers.
He picked up the wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson in the first T20I against India.
Wanindu (720 points) has a slender one-point lead over Rashid (719 points), while he is 72 rating points behind the world No. 1 T20I bowler Tabraiz Shamsi (792 points).
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not the only Indian bowler to gain in ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has become the highest-ranked Indian in the ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers, his teammate Yuzvendra Chahal has also improved his ranking.
The leg-spinner is now in the 21st position with 551 rating points to his name. Chahal bowled a game-changing spell of 1/19 in the first T20I against Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Deepak Chahar has also risen to 34th position after scalping two wickets in the first T20I. It will be interesting to see how the Indian bowlers perform in the final two matches of this T20I series.