ICC T20I Rankings: Virat Kohli climbs to 7th spot; KL Rahul retains 3rd position

ICC T20I Rankings: Virat Kohli climbs to 7th spot; KL Rahul retains 3rd position
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

Following the T20 series between New Zealand and Pakistan which ended with the former coming up trumps with a 2-1 score-line, the ICC T20I rankings for batsmen have undergone quite a few changes. Indian skipper Virat Kohli has moved up one spot from 8th to reach the 7th position. Kohli had a good T20I series against Australia topping the run charts for India. After being dismissed cheaply in the first match, he came back strongly to score a 40 in the second before making a fighting 85 in the third.

Kohli’s teammate KL Rahul who opens the batting for India retained his third position after a decent outing against Australia. Although there wasn’t a match-winning performance, Rahul contributed crucial runs in the first two matches when India won but was dismissed for a duck in the third match off Glenn Maxwell’s bowling.

Other changes in rankings

KL Rahul

New Zealand batter Tim Seifert and bowler Tim Southee climbed up in the rankings to reach their career-best positions. Seifert has broken into the top 10 for the first time as he advanced a whopping 24 spots to move past his previous best of 32nd. Southee entered the top 10 for bowlers as well, reaching 7th spot meaning he has now reached top 10 in all three formats.

From the Pakistan side, Mohammad Hafeez who even at 40 was striking the ball cleanly against New Zealand in a series that also saw him score 99* moved from the 47th spot to the 33rd. The Pakistani bowlers Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf who all had decent outings climbed up the rankings as well.

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