Ishan Kishan’s sensational form with the bat continues, as the wicket-keeper batter stormed to the top of the ICC T20I rankings for the first time in his career on Wednesday, July 1. Kishan surpassed his teammate Abhishek Sharma, who held the No.1 spot for a whole year.ย
This rise follows a stellar T20 World Cup for Kishan, where he emerged as one of the standout performers during India’s title win. The Southpaw made 317 runs in nine innings and was India’s second-highest run-scorer, only behind the Player of the Tournament, Sanju Samson. Kishan has 876 ratings and is top on top of the table, with Abhishek slipping to second with a rating of 869.
Kishanโs terrific form continues
The 27-year-old was dropped from India’s senior men’s team in December 2023, but the top-order batter and the wicketkeeper had a brilliant domestic season with Jharkhand as the captain of the team. He led the team to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) during the 2025-26 season, which earned him a recall to the Men in Blue.
Kishan continued to impress on his India return during the New Zealand series ahead of the World Cup and in the global showpiece too. His match-winning knock against Pakistan in Colombo earned him the Player of the Match award and proved to be a defining moment for him in the tournament.
He has now become only the fourth Indian men’s batter to hold the No. 1 spot in T20Is, joining the elite list of Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek Sharma.
Ireland players move up the rankingsย ย
Ireland’s encouraging performances have also been reflected in the rankings after their triumph against India in the T20I series. Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker climbed four places to joint 77th in the batting rankings, while Ross Adair jumped six spots to 84th after making valuable contributions with the bat.
Ireland seamer Matthew Humphreys moved up one place to 25th in the T20I bowling rankings after claiming four wickets in the series, earning a career-best rating. There were more gains for Ireland players in the T20I rankings as Gareth Delany (up four slots to 24th) and Harry Tector (up eight spots to 38th) jumped places in the T20I all-rounders tally.
Written by Bhavye Dhalla. Bhavye Dhalla is an intern with IndiaTV Digital.
ALSO READ |ย Australia book ticket to Women’s World Cup 2026 final, register dominant 8-wicket win against WI