Pakistani players rise in ICC latest T20 batting rankings

Pakistani players rise in ICC latest T20 batting rankings

DUBAI – An impressive performance in ongoing Asia Cup 2022 tournament helped Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan to secure top spot in latest ICC T20 Batting Rankings issued on Wednesday.

Rizwan has dethroned skipper Babar Azam, who was reigning as No.1 T20 batsman for several months, as the latter could not show better performance in the ongoing tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

The right-hand batsman is leading the ranking with 815 points while Azam is at the second place with 794 points followed by South Africa’s Aiden Markram and India’s Suryakumar Yadav.

Rizwan has been in stunning form in the Asia Cup, leading the run charts with 192 runs in 3 matches.

Rizwan was Pakistan's mainstay with the bat in their matches against Hong Kong and India, scoring 78* and 71 respectively in their back-to-back victories. His performances have seen him gain one spot, overtaking Babar who has endured a lean run in the tournament so far.

Rizwan becomes only the third Pakistan batter to top the T20I rankings chart after Babar and Misbah-ul-Haq. Babar has been at the top of the T20I batting charts for 1155 days in his career (as of 7 September), said ICC in its blog.