Babar Azam improves spot in latest ICC men's T20I player rankings
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India middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav retained his position at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I Batting Rankings while several England stars made significant gains after their victory in the T20 World Cup.
Suryakumar became the No.1 T20I batter after a superb showing in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, where he smashed three fifties in just five innings. That performance helped him to achieve a career-best rating of 869 points. Although his rating dropped to 859 after his dismissal for 14 in the semi-final against England, his position has remained undisturbed as other batters in his vicinity failed to produce any eye-catching performances.
The 32-year-old amassed 239 runs during the World Cup at an outstanding average and strike rate of 59.75 and 189.68 respectively, and also finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the event.
Alex Hales, who smashed an unbeaten 86 from 47 deliveries in the semi-final against India, was also seen making a big jump in the rankings as he climbed 22 places up to No 12. Hales finished as England's second-highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup, with 212 runs at an average of 42.40.
Hales has been in superb form ever since his comeback to the England side earlier this year. He has amassed 430 T20I runs in 2022, at an excellent average of 30.71 and an equally good strike-rate of 145.27.
Babar Azam
The Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored a match-winning fifty in the semi-final against New Zealand, gaining one spot to climb up to No 3. South Africa batter Rossouw also jumped up to seventh after New Zealand's Glenn Phillips dropped to the eighth spot. Rossouw had scored a magnificent century against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup.
Other batters in the top five other than Suryakumar and Babar are Mohammad Rizwan, Devon Conway and Aiden Markram. Both Rizwan and Markram have managed to hold on to their second and fifth positions respectively, whereas Conway dropped down to fourth after losing his third position in the rankings to Babar.
In the bowling charts, Adil Rashid has been the biggest gainer after his extraordinary performances in the semi-final against India and the final against Pakistan. Rashid registered figures of 1/20 and 2/22 in the two matches respectively, gaining five spots to move up to No 3.
His compatriot Sam Curran also gains two spots to move to No 5, after a Player of the Match performance of 3/12 in the final against Pakistan. Wanindu Hasaranga continues to remain the top-ranked bowler, followed by Rashid Khan.
In the all-rounders' rankings, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Hardik Pandya continue to occupy the top three spots.