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Abhishek Sharma becomes World No.1 in T20Is, joins Kohli, Suryakumar; Pant rewarded for gritty fifty through fracture
Abhishek Sharma became just the third Indian to achieve a phenomenal feat in the shortest format of the game.
Abhishek Sharma has climbed to the pinnacle of T20I batting, becoming only the third Indian men’s player to hold the No.1 spot in the ICC rankings for batters. The 24-year-old left-hander has dethroned Australia's Travis Head for the position. His rise marks a significant moment in Indian white-ball cricket, as he joins the elite company of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, two modern-day giants who previously held the same position.
Abhishek burst onto the international scene last year with a blistering T20I century against Zimbabwe, but it’s his consistency since then that’s propelled him to the top. Head, who had overtaken Suryakumar during the 2024 T20 World Cup, had retained the top position for over a year but missed Australia’s recent series in the Caribbean. That opened the door for Abhishek.
Tilak Varma remains third in the T20I batting rankings, while captain Suryakumar remains sixth.
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While Abhishek made headlines in T20Is, it was a significant week for India’s Test stars as well.
India’s fight in Manchester, where they batted five sessions and dominated the English bowling attack to secure a draw, also saw gains in the latest ICC Test rankings. Rishabh Pant, who continues to battle injury, moved up one spot to seventh after his gritty half-century. Ravindra Jadeja reached a new career-high batting rating, moving five places to 29th after his unbeaten century in the second innings. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah remains unchallenged at No.1.
While Shubman Gill remains ninth in the rankings after a century in the second innings of the Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal slipped three places to eighth.
Root at top in Tests
Ben Stokes and Joe Root made notable progress for England. Stokes rose eight spots to joint 34th in the batting rankings and climbed to third among Test all-rounders. Root, however, remains the standout.
His 150 at Old Trafford has widened his lead at the top of the Test batting charts and helped him overtake Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run-scorer in Test history.
Ben Duckett also re-entered the top 10 after jumping five places to 10th thanks to his 94 at Old Trafford.
