ICC T20I rankings: Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar forge ahead after Asia Cup heroics

Former India skipper Virat Kohli and frontline swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar have made excellent progress in the latest released T20 International (T20I) players’ rankings by International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.

Following their admirable performances in the Asia Cup 2022, both Kohli and Bhuvneshwar have advanced in the rankings of the shortest format. Kohli has moved up 14 places to No. 15 on the batters’ table thanks to his comeback in the 20-over tournament, where he scored 276 runs in five innings, at an average of 92.00 and strike rate of 147.59.

Kohli also smashed his first T20I century, an unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan, which ended his century drought of 1000-plus days across formats. The 33-year-old was only behind Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 281 runs in the tournament, which helped him maintain the top spot amongst batters.

Another major change in the batters’ category was Pakistan captain Babar Azam losing his No. 2 spot to South Africa’s Aiden Markram following a disappointing show with the bat in the Asia Cup. Notably, Babar only managed to score 68 runs in 6 innings in the multi-team event, which was won by Sri Lanka after they beat Pakistan by 23 runs in the final.

Similarly, among bowlers, Bhuvneshwar, who finished Asia Cup 2022 as the highest wicket-taker with 11 scalps to his name, made notable progress, breaking into the top ten after jumping from 11th to seventh.

Right behind Bhuvi was Sri Lanka’s lead spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who picked up nine wickets from six innings. Due to his brilliant performance, Hasaranga has moved up three places to acquire the sixth spot in the bowlers’ rankings headed by Australian pace sensation Josh Hazlewood.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has now become the No.1 ranked T20I all-rounder after he outdistanced Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi.

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September 14, 2022 at 09:29PM