Significant gains for Indian players in first T20I rankings

Dubai: India opener KL Rahul has retained sixth position while captain Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after featuring in the three-match series against Sri Lanka that they won 2-0 with one match washed out.

Rahul, the highest-ranked India batsman, has gained 26 points is now on 760 rating points, just six behind Australia’s Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in ninth position while Dhawan is 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked 70th.

India’s fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Team Rankings, India have gained two points but remain in fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236, the same as Afghanistan. (UNI)