ICC T20I Rankings: SKY 2nd; Gaikwad climbs to 7th

Star batter Suryakumar Yadav stayed put on second position in the latest ICC Men's T20I batting rankings, which also features Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made significant progress following his exploits in the ongoing away series against Zimbabwe.

Suryakumar is placed second with 821 rating points behind Australia's Travis Head, who has 844 rating points.

Phil Salt of England is paced third with 797 points, ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (755), Mohammad Rizwan (746) and Jos Buttler (716).

Gaikwad has gained 13 places to climb to the seventh spot in the rankings on the back of a stellar 77 not out off 47 balls in a comprehensive 100-run win for India in the second T20I against Zimbabwe.

With most of India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024-winning squad rested for the Zimbabwe tour, the five-game series has allowed India's back-up players to showcase their talent, and with the retirement of stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, the upcoming players can make a good case for a regular place in the side.

Apart from Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma also made solid gains among the India batters.

Rinku, who was among the reserves for the T20 World Cup, jumped four places to reach the 39th spot on the back of an attacking 48 not out from 22 balls in the second T20I.

And after a duck in the first game, all-rounder Abhishek smashed a stunning 100 from just 47 balls in the second game. With this spectacular knock, he entered the rankings for the first time at 75th spot.

Zimbabwe's Brian Bennett gained 25 places to finish at the 96th position courtesy of his two attacking cameos, making 22 off 15 and 26 off nine in the two matches.

In the bowlers' T20I chart, left-arm spinner Axar Patel dropped two places to be the lone Indian in top-10 at the ninth position with 644 rating points.

Fellow left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav also dropped three places to the 11th spot, while T20 World Cup's player-of-the-tournament Jasprit Bumrah also slid two rungs to 14th position.

Besides, there were some movements in the top 10 positions of the bowling rankings, with Adam Zampa (7th), Fazalhaq Farooqi (8th), and Maheesh Theekshana (10th) gaining positions.

India's Ravi Bishnoi, with his six scalps in the first two games against Zimbabwe, jumped eight places to move to the 14th spot.

Blessing Muzarabani also gained eight positions after the first two matches, up to 55th, with his spell of 1/17 instrumental in Zimbabwe winning the first T20I.

India vice-captain Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, dropped a place to the second position in the T20I all-rounders' rankings.

Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka moved to pole position.

India's Washington Sundar entered the top 50 on the back of his quickfire 27 in the first game, as well as his three wickets in two outings.

Axar is placed 12th in the all-rounders' rankings.