File photo of Suryakumar Yadav.© AFP
Suryakumar Yadav maintained his numero uno position among batters despite being out of competitive cricket for past three months while ace spinner Rashid Khan, back in Afghan jersey after an injury lay-off, is back among top-10 in bowlers’ list in the latest ICC T20I rankings published on Wednesday. Surya, who will make a comeback for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL, is way ahead of the pack with 861 points under his belt. Phil Salt is a distant number two with 802 points. Surya hadn’t played any cricket since December, having undergone sports hernia surgery.
Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid re-entered the elite list of the ICC men’s T20I bowler rankings following his contribution in team’s 2-1 series victory over Ireland.
The 25-year-old spinner returned from injury in style, claiming eight wickets and his exploits saw him jump four places to ninth in the latest rankings.
The Afghanistan ace collected a series-high eight wickets over the three matches at an average of 5.62 in what was his first series since he injured his back during last year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Rashid, who first held the No.1 ranking for T20I bowlers at the start of 2018 and has consistently remained near the top, only slipped out of the top 10 recently and will be keen to maintain his position within the premier spots in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in USA and the Caribbean.
Rashid’s Afghanistan teammate Naveen-ul-Haq (up two places to 55th) made some ground following his three wickets during the Ireland series, while Irish trio of Josh Little (up seven spots to 39th), Mark Adair (up two places to 56th) and Barry McCarthy (up 15 spots to 77th) also boosted their T20I bowler ranking that is still being led by England spinner Adil Rashid.
In T20I batting rankings, Bangladesh veteran Shakib Al Hasan maintained his place at the top of the rankings for T20I all-rounders, with Ireland’s Gareth Delany (up four places to 18th) the biggest mover in this category following his 76 runs and a wicket against Afghanistan.
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