KL Rahul continues to be top ranked Indian batsmen in ICC T20I rankings, Virat Kohli moves up to ninth position

Dubai: India opener KL Rahul retained his sixth position while captain Virat Kohli moved up a place to ninth in the batting chart of the ICC T20I players rankings released on Saturday.

The ICC T20 rankings were updated after the conclusion of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka, which Kohli’s men won 2-0.

Rahul, the highest-ranked India batsman, has gained 26 points and is now on 760 rating points, just six behind Australia’s Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in ninth position while left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, too, has climbed a rung to be placed 15th.

Manish Pandey has also advanced four places and is ranked 70th.

The Indian fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC men’s T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia later this year.

Player of the Series Navdeep Saini has rocketed 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets apiece in the series. The fit-again Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs, while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Team Rankings, India have gained two points but remained static in fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236, the same as Afghanistan.