Mohammad Rizwan takes top spot in ICC T20I Rankings for batters; displaces Babar Azam – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Pakistan wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan has taken the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings, displacing his compatriot and skipper Babar Azam.

The right-handed player has been in sublime form and has scored consistently for the Pakistan team in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. Rizwan has scores of 43, 78*, and 71 in the three matches so far and is the highest run-scorer with 192 runs to his name.

“Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan has overtaken his opening partner and captain Babar Azam to seize the top position among batters in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings,” ICC said in a statement.

Rizwan is only the third Pakistan batter to take the top spot in T20Is after Babar Azam and Misbah-ul-Haq.

While Babar is at number two now, he is followed by South Africa’s Aiden Markram, and India’s Suryakumar Yadav at three and four respectively.

Suryakumar Yadav dropped a place to fourth, whereas India captain Rohit Sharma gained three slots to be at 14th after scoring a 41-ball 72 against Sri Lanka.

Star batter Virat Kohli gained four places and is ranked 29th after scoring 60 against Pakistan. Hardik Pandya maintained his fifth spot in the all-rounder’s chart.

Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka who played a brilliant innings against India during the Super 4 fixture of the Asia Cup 2022 on Tuesday has now moved to number 8.

“Sri Lanka openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis have made notable progress after scoring half-centuries in a memorable win against India on Tuesday. Nissanka is up one place to eighth while Mendis has advanced 63 places to 41st position,” the statement added.

Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz also gained 14 places to be ranked 15th, after his knock of 84 against Sri Lanka in the Super Four clash.

Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood (792 rating points) and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi (256 rating points) top the bowling and all-rounder charts respectively.

Pakistan will now play Afghanistan in the Super 4 stage. The Babar Azam-led side will be riding high on confidence as they are coming into this game on the back of a win against arch-rivals India. If they defeat Afghanistan on Wednesday, then they will seal a place in the finals alongside Sri Lanka and would bring the Men in Blue’s campaign to a close.

With inputs from PTI

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.