Suryakumar Yadav’s career-high rating on the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings continues to pile up for the India powerhouse and world’s greatest T20I batter.
Suryakumar gained 910 points after scoring 47 runs in the opening match of India’s current series against New Zealand in Ranchi, as the young right-hander maintained his huge lead at the top of the T20I batting rankings.
Suryakumar produced a more calm knock of 26* in the second match of the series, but as a result, the 32-year-old slid back to a total of 908 rating points.He will have another chance to improve his record in the series’ third and final match on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar is now within striking distance of England’s Dawid Malan in the battle for the greatest Men’s T20I batter rating of all time.
Malan had a rating of 915 points in Cape Town in 2020, but Suryakumar now has the second-best rating for T20I hitters of all time thanks to his recent heroics with the willow.
He ranked first among current hitters after hitting 239 runs in six matches at last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, and he has just been crowned the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year.
While the question of how far Suryakumar may ascend consumes most of the attention surrounding the current set of T20I rankings, a slew of New Zealand players has been the greatest movers on the revised batters and bowlers tables.
Following his undefeated half-century against India, New Zealand opener Finn Allan rises eight ranks to 19th on the batters list, while colleague Daryl Mitchell improves nine slots to 29th overall.
But it is possibly fellow Kiwi Mitchell Santner, who has impressed with both bat and ball in India, who has made the most eye-catching change.
Santner led New Zealand in scoring with 19 in the second match of the series and has been efficient with the ball, picking up two wickets with his excellent left-arm orthodox spin.
The 30-year-old moves up two spots to ninth overall on the newest list of T20I bowlers, while also moving up five spots to 23rd on the revised all-rounder rankings.
The ODI rankings saw little change this week, as promising England pacer Jofra Archer re-entered the lists for bowlers at 35 after a successful return from long-term injuries against South Africa.
However, South Africa has dominated the first two ODIs of that series, with skipper Temba Bavuma and top-order batsman Rassie van der Dussen among the better performers for the Proteas.
Bavuma smashed a stunning century in the second match of the series in Bloemfontein, moving him up 27 ranks to 49th overall on the current ODI hitters list.
Van der Dussen’s century in the series opener has helped the right-hander cut the distance on Pakistan skipper Babar Azam at the top of the ODI hitters rankings.
Van Der Dussen’s rating rises from 766 to 795, reducing Babar’s advantage to only 92 rating points over the second-placed South African.