Abhishek Sharma extends his reign at the top of ICC T20I rankings, achieves his career-best rating points

A day after Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana achieved her career-best rating points in women’s ODIs for batters, Indian opener Abhishek Sharma did the same in men’s T20Is rankings for batters, following his destructive knock of 74 runs off just 39 balls against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup. Sharma, who was at the top of the ICC rankings before the start of the Asia Cup, played a few 30-odd knocks before saving his best for the big game in the Super Fours, making a mockery of a 172-run target against the arch-rivals.

907 is now Sharma’s career-best rating points and the southpaw is 63 points ahead of England opener Phil Salt, who is in second place. Another Indian left-hander, Tilak Varma, made a move by a place to the third spot, with Jos Buttler, one of the best white-ball batters, dropping down by a spot. 

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka swapped spots despite the former getting out for a duck and the latter scoring 8 (7) against Pakistan. Tim David and Dewald Brevis rounded up the top 10 for the batters in the format.

Among other big gainers from the last week, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan jumped 31 places to No 24 after scoring 58 against India and a 15-ball 24 against Sri Lanka. Shubman Gill and Towhid Hridoy both climbed seven places each. Sri Lankan skipper moved up to the joint-47th spot with a six-place jump, while Mohammad Nabi also earned 13 places after his 60-run blast against Sri Lanka in Afghanistan’s final game of the Asia Cup.

Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka, who was dismissed for a duck on Tuesday against Pakistan, scored a fifty against Bangladesh in the first Super Fours fixture and earned a 10-spot rise to No 76, while Kamindu Mendis got up from 110th spot to No 78, gaining 32 spots.

With the Asia Cup in its final stretch, there will be a few more movements on the T20I list across all three departments.