Ishan Kishan rises to top after Abhishek Sharma 11-month reign as No.1 batter in ICC T20I Rankings comes to an end
Ishan Kishan dethroned Abhishek Sharma as the new No.1 batter in the latest ICC T20I Rankings for batters. Kishan thus becomes the fourth Indian to achieve this milestone.
Abhishek Sharma reign as the top batter in the ICC T20I Rankings has come to an end after 11 months as fellow Ishan Kishan took over, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Wednesday. Abhishek's downfall came after the left-handed opener was dismissed for a duck during India' second T20I against Ireland, which the Men in Blue surprisingly lost in Belfast.
This is first time Kishan has reached the top spot in the ICC Rankings for batters. Currently, Kishan is at 876 points, seven points clear of Abhishek at second spot. In the process, Kishan became the fourth Indian batter to reach the milestone after Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek.
Kishan's rise to the top of the ICC T20I Rankings for batters came on the back of a consistent form in the T20 World Cup 2026. In tournament where Abhishek could manage only a two fifty-plus scores and three consecutive ducks. On the other hand, Kishan, batting at no.3 was one of the two Indian batters to finish among top five in the list for most runs in the event.
The hard-hitting left-hander, batting at no.3, amassed 317 runs at a strike rate of almost 200, including a match-defining knock against Pakistan. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar are the two other Indians in the top 10. While Varma is static at no.6, Suryakumar dropped a spot to be at no.8.
Latest ICC T20I Rankings for batters
| Rank | Player | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ishan Kishan (India) | 876 |
| 2 | Abhishek Sharma (India) | 875 |
| 3 | Sahibzada Farhan (Pakistan) | 848 |
| 4 | Phil Salt (England) | 792 |
| 5 | Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) | 766 |
| 6 | Tilak Varma (India) | 742 |
| 7 | Jos Buttler (England) | 716 |
| 8 | Suryakumar Yadav (India) | 708 |
| 9 | Mitchell Marsh (Australia) | 706 |
| 10 | Dewald Brevis (South Africa) | 702 |
Virat Kohli drops, Shubman Gill rises
Meanwhile in the ODI batting charts, Indian captain Shubman Gill rose three spots to be placed second. The rise of Gill came after the right-hander's brilliant show against Afghanistan in the recent ODI series. The Indian skipper scored 84 not out and 154 not out against Afghanistan in the first and second ODIs, and led India to a 3-0 whitewash.
Kohli, on the other hand, didn't play against Afghanistan due to a hamstring injury, dropped a spot to be third. Another former India captain Rohit Sharma remained static at fourth spot. The chart is being led by New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell with 815 rating points.
Another Indian, KL Rahul, dropped two places to move out of the top 10 to be placed at 11th. In the ICC Test Rankings, Gill raised a spot to be sixth wile opener Yashasvhi Jaiswal dropped a place to be ninth.
In the men's Test batting rankings, Travis Head has leaped to the top spot while Joe Root has slipped to third. Outside the top 10, Rishabh Pant is the best ranked Indian at 13th.
Among bowlers, India's Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah dropped a slot each to be third and sixth respectively in the T20I rankings. Afghanistan's Rashid Khan maintained his top spot. In the Test rankings, Bumrah is top ranked among bowlers in the longest format.
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