India's KL Rahul climbs to 5th; Virat Kohli drops to 8th in latest ICC T20I rankings

Dubai: India’s KL Rahul climbed three places to fifth, but Virat Kohli slipped four spots to eighth in the latest ICC men’s T20I rankings issued on Wednesday. Rahul, who scored three fifties in India’s last three matches after struggling against Pakistan and New Zealand in the first two games of the T20 World Cup, moved to No 5. The 29-year-old batter scored 69, 50 and 54 not out against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia but the knocks came too late for India as they exited the tournament in the Super 12 stage. Among others, Aiden Markram’s unbeaten knock of 52 in just 25 balls in South Africa’s victory over Group 1 table-toppers England saw him climb to the No 3 spot. Markram’s heroics with the bat has also helped him break into the top 10 all-rounders’ list, rising seven places to No 7. [caption id=“attachment_10120911” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of KL Rahul. AP Photo[/caption] South African teammate Rassie van der Dussen too broke into the top 10 rankings for batters, climbing six spots to occupy the 10th place in the latest chart. Van der Dussen scored a player of the match-winning knock of 94 not out against England, helping the Proteas post a daunting total of 189. Unfortunately, for South Africa, their win against England was not enough as they crashed out of the World Cup on net run rate, despite winning four games out of five. In the rankings for bowlers, the Australian duo of Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood climbed the charts. Both bowlers have been in great form of late and were instrumental in Australia qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Cup. Zampa’s five-for against Bangladesh propelled him to the No 5 spot, while Hazlewood went up 11 places to No 8, thanks to his four-wicket haul against the West Indies. The other major movement in the top 10 saw Tim Southee, who has picked up five wickets since the last update, move three places up to No 9 in the bowling rankings. The Australian domination in the latest update continued with Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh moving up in the all-rounders’ rankings. Maxwell went up three places to become the new No 4 ranked all-rounder while Marsh ascended five spots to No 9. Sri Lankan sensation Wanindu Hasaranga achieved a career-high rating (173) for all-rounders, thus going up one spot to No 3.