Dubai: Star batter Suryakumar Yadav stayed put in second position in the latest ICC Men's T20I batting rankings, which also features Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made significant progress following his exploits in the ongoing away series against Zimbabwe. Suryakumar is placed second with 821 rating points behind Australia's Travis Head, who has 844 rating points.
Phil Salt of England is placed third with 797 points, ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (755), Mohammad Rizwan (746) and Jos Buttler (716). Gaikwad has gained 13 places to climb to the seventh spot in the rankings on the back of a stellar 77 not out off 47 balls in a comprehensive 100-run win for India in the second T20I against Zimbabwe.
With most of India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024-winning squad rested for the Zimbabwe tour, the five-game series has allowed India's backup players to showcase their talent. With the retirement of stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja, the upcoming players can make a good case for a regular place in the side.
Apart from Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma also made solid gains among the India batters. Rinku, who was among the reserves for the T20 World Cup, jumped four places to reach the 39th spot on the back of an attacking 48 not out from 22 balls in the second T20I.
After a duck in the first game, all-rounder Abhishek smashed a stunning 100 from just 47 balls in the second game. With this spectacular knock, he entered the rankings for the first time at 75th spot.
Zimbabwe's Brian Bennett gained 25 places to finish at the 96th position courtesy of his two attacking cameos, making 22 off 15 and 26 off nine in the two matches. In the bowlers' T20I chart, left-arm spinner Axar Patel dropped two places to be the lone Indian in the top 10 at the ninth position with 644 rating points.