Virat Kohli storms into top 10; Bhuvneshwar, Pandya too rise

Dubai, Oct. 26 (PTI): Star India batter Virat Kohli stormed his way back into the top 10 T20I batting chart, climbing up five spots to ninth position in the latest rankings issued on Wednesday.

Kohli has been rewarded for his heroics against Pakistan in India’s T20 World Cup opener against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Sunday.

Kohli smashed an unbeaten 82 to guide India to a memorable last-ball victory, the knock catapulting the former India captain into the top 10 of T20I batters list.

The 33-year-old hit six fours and four sixes during his glorious innings.

India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar jumped two spots to the 10th spot in the bowlers’ rankings, while Hardik Pandya rose three places to third in the all-rounders chart following his impressive start to the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (849 rating points) continues to occupy the top spot, with New Zealand opener Devon Conway (831) rising three places to replace Suryakumar Yadav from the second position.

Conway hit a 58-ball unbeaten 92 to help New Zealand thrash defending champions Australia by 89 runs in their opener.

With 828 rating points in his kitty, Suryakumar dropped to the third spot but was ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (799) and South Africa’s Aiden Markram (762).

New Zealand’s Finn Allen also moved up, courtesy his swashbuckling 16-ball 42-run knock against Australia, which helped him to rise a whopping 17 places to the 13th position.

Among bowlers, Bhuvneshwar has been rewarded for his tidy figures of 1/22 from four overs against Pakistan.

Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan overtook Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood to re-claim the No.1 T20I bowler’s position.

Rashid earned the top billing on the back of a fine performance against England, in which he scalped the wicket of young Harry Brook and finished with tidy figures of 1/17 from his four overs, albeit in a five-wicket loss.

Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga dropped three places to sixth, while England seamer Sam Curran moved up eight spots to eighth position following his record-breaking five-wicket haul against Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan remained the top ranked all-rounder, with Afghanistan counterpart Mohammad Nabi in second spot and just 14 rating points behind.

Pandya scaled to third on the list after picking up three valuable wickets against Pakistan and then combined well with Kohli to score 40 during India’s thrilling chase.