Axar Patel: Following strong performances in the two T20Is against Afghanistan so far, India’s left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel and young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal have achieved career-best positions in the recent update of the ICC men’s T20I rankings on Wednesday.
Patel has advanced 12 places to a career-best fifth position among rankings for bowlers in the shortest format. His hauls of 2-23 and 2-16 in India’s identical six-wicket wins over Afghanistan in the first two T20Is of their three-match series have also lifted him two places to 16th position among all-rounders.
Jaiswal’s 34-ball 68 in the second T20I in Indore after missing series opener in Mohali due to a groin strain has lifted him seven places to a career-best sixth position while seam-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube’s successive unbeaten knocks of 60 and 63 have helped him shoot up from 265th to 58th place in the rankings for the batters.
Shubman Gill (up seven places to 60th among batters), Tilak Verma (up three places to joint-61st among batters) and Arshdeep Singh (up four places to 21st among bowlers) are the other India players to move up in the rankings. For Afghanistan, Najibullah Zadran (up one place to 46th) and Mohammad Nabi (up two places to 54th) have moved up in the batters rankings.
New Zealand opener Finn Allen, whose two innings of 34 off 15 balls and 74 off 41 deliveries helped his team win the first two matches against Pakistan and lifted him 11 places to 16th position among batters. His team-mate Tim Southee, who took six wickets in the first two matches, is up eight places to 18th in the bowlers’ list.
Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam is up one place to fourth after notching consecutive half-centuries in the first two matches against New Zealand while Fakhar Zaman is up 14 places to 81st. Daryll Mitchell (up nine places to 37th) and Kane Williamson (up 13 places to 59th) are the Kiwi batters to move up in the rankings.
The bowling rankings see Sri Lanka spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana take joint-third position after moving up one and two places, respectively. Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf’s haul of five wickets in two matches have lifted him two places to joint-14th place while New Zealand pacer Adam Milne’s six wickets in two matches see him advance from 66th to joint-47th position.
