Suryakumar Yadav dethrones Mohammad Rizwan to become the new No. 1 ranked T20I batter
The battle to become the No. 1 ranked T20I batter is getting more intense now. Last week, we saw New Zealand opener Devon Conway surpass India's Suryakumar Yadav to take the second spot, while Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan was at No. 1.
But as per the latest ICC T20I ranking, India's "Mr. 360," Suryakumar Yadav, has dethroned Rizwan from the No. 1 spot, and he is now the new No. 1 ranked T20I batsman in the world. SKY scored two back-to-back half centuries in the game against the Netherlands and South Africa, which has helped him become the top ranked batter.
On the other hand, Rizwan didn't have the score he would have liked. His highest score of 49 runs came in the last game against the Netherlands. SKY scored 51* off 25 balls at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Then he played a brilliant innings of 68 runs off 40 balls and was the lone survivor from India. Although his innings went in vain and India lost that game, that innings also gave him the much-needed boost to top the rankings.
Notably, the Pakistan wicketkeeper has been at the top of the rankings since September 4 this year, when he overtook his skipper Babar Azam. On the other hand, SKY is the 23rd cricketer overall to take the top spot in the T20I batsmen rankings.
For India, he is only the third Indian batter to achieve this milestone, after Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. Virat stayed on top for a total of 1013 days, between September 2014 and December 2017.
SKY's has a rating of 863, which is also the second best for an Indian. Virat has the best rating with 897 points in September 2014. Apart from the Indian star, New Zealand star batter Glenn Philips, who scored a century against Sri Lanka and a fifty against England, has moved to his career-best place.
He is now in seventh place in the T20I rankings. On the other hand, South African batter Rilee Rossouw, who scored a century (109) against Bangladesh, has jumped 18 spots up to the 8th spot in the rankings.