Varun Chakravarthy has jumped to the top of the International Cricket Council’s rankings for bowlers in T20Is for the first time in his career. Chakravarthy is the third Indian to have topped the standings after Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi. It marks a remarkable milestone for the spinner who didn’t play any international cricket between October 2021 and November 2024, after a disastrous campaign in the 2021 T20 World Cup, and has become a mainstay in India’s T20I bowling lineup since.
“Fresh from a second career five-wicket haul against England at the start of the year, Chakaravarthy has looked in good touch at the ongoing Asia Cup where he has two wickets from as many matches against the UAE and Pakistan,” the ICC said. Chakaravarthy returned figures of 1/4 in India’s tournament opener against the hosts and backed that up with an equally impressive haul of 1/24 from four overs in the commanding victory over Pakistan four days later.
That was enough for Chakravarthy to rise three places to the top of the standings, with New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy dropping to second, West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein remaining in third and Australia’s Adam Zampa rising to fourth overall.
Abhishek Sharma consolidates his place at the top
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav has made a significant leap, jumping 16 places to 23rd, while spin all-rounder Axar Patel has moved up one place to 12th. Bumrah has also improved his position, rising four spots to 40th.
In the all-rounders’ rankings, Hardik Pandya continues to hold the top spot, while Abhishek Sharma has climbed four places to 14th. Abhishek has also consolidated his position at the top of the T20 batting rankings. His explosive innings of 30 off 16 balls against the UAE and 31 off 13 against Pakistan have helped him achieve a career-high 884 rating points.
His opening partner Shubman Gill has moved up four places to 39th. However, Tilak Varma and captain Suryakumar Yadav have slipped in the rankings. Tilak is down two spots to fourth, while Suryakumar has dropped one position to seventh. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was not included in the Asia Cup squad, has also fallen two places to 13th.
The England opening pair of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler have advanced one spot each to second and third positions, respectively, after their scintillating performances in the second T20 against South Africa in Manchester.
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Salt’s 141 not out off 60 balls, which was the highest score and the fastest T20 century by an England batter, inched back towards his career-best No. 1 position while Buttler’s 83 off 30 helped him attain a career-high 794 rating points and make a first appearance inside the top three
