Tilak Varma rises to No. 2 in ICC T20I batters’ rankings; Varun Chakravarthy breaks into bowlers’ top 5
The Hindu
Tilak Varma rises to second, Varun Chakravarthy enters top five in ICC T20I rankings; Adil Rashid reclaims top spot.
Talented India batter Tilak Varma climbed one spot to second, while mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy made a massive leap of 25 places to break into the top five in the latest ICC men's T20I rankings released on Wednesday (January 29, 2025).
Varma now sits just behind Travis Head in the batters' list, with the Australian maintaining a 23-point lead at the top.
The young Indian left-hander has been in sublime form, posting scores of 19 not out, 72 not out, and 18 in India's ongoing T20I series against England.
With two matches remaining in the series, Varma has a chance to overtake Head and become the youngest-ever player to top the rankings -- a record currently held by Babar Azam, who reached No. 1 at the age of 23 years and 105 days.
Varma's current rating of 832 points is the fourth-highest ever achieved by an Indian batter in T20I history, behind only Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul.
India's Abhishek Sharma also made significant strides, jumping 59 places to 40th, while England's Liam Livingstone (up five spots to 32nd) and Ben Duckett (up 28 places to 68th) were the biggest gainers from the visiting team.
Chakravarthy's magical 5/24 in India's 26-run loss in the third T20I propelled him to top five in the T20I bowling rankings.