New Delhi: Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has made it to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s T20I bowlers. He becomes the third Indian bowler to top the ICC T20I bowling rankings, after Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi.
Over the last year, Chakaravarthy (34) has become a mainstay in India’s T20I lineup, showing his class with a string of strong performances. This helped him overtake New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy at the top of the T20I bowling rankings.
Fresh from a second career five-wicket haul against England at the start of the year, Chakaravarthy has looked in good touch at the ongoing Asia Cup where he has two wickets from as many matches against the UAE and Pakistan, the ICC official app says.
In the ongoing Asia Cup, the spinner finished with 1/4 in India’s tournament opener against the UAE. He backed up that performance with an equally impressive 1/24 from four overs in Sunday’s victory over Pakistan.
This performance was strong enough for Chakaravarthy to climb three rungs to claim the premier position for the first time. Duffy has now dropped to second position, with West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein remaining at third and Australia’s Adam Zampa rising to fourth overall.
India’s Abhishek Sharma ranks No 1 among batters in the ICC rankings. His innings of 31 against Pakistan helped him retain his position, with a host of big names eyeing it. They include England openers Phil Salt (second) and Jos Buttler (third).
Meanwhile, Indian star Hardik Pandya remains at the top of the rankings for T20I all rounders, with Pakistan’s Saim Ayub (up four places to equal fifth) and Abhishek (up four spots to 14th) among the big movers in that category this week.