Team India batting sensation Suryakumar Yadav has retained his second spot amongst batters in the latest released T20 International (T20I) rankings by International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.
However, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has extended his lead at the top with rating points of 818. Suryakumar did consolidate his spot as No. 2 in the T20I charts but missed out on an opportunity to overtake Babar after he was rested for the recently-concluded final T20I against West Indies on Sunday.
Last week Surya was only two points behind Babar, but due to the rest in the fifth T20I, the Pune-born batter lost as many as 11 rating points.
Now, it will be an interesting battle between Suryakumar and Babar, as both stars will get an opportunity to have a go in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. Notably, India will face arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match in Dubai on August 28.
Other than Suryakumar, India batters Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant were the major gainers in the rankings. Iyer hit an impressive half-century during the fifth T20I in Florida and was jumped six places to 19th. Similarly, Pant, who finished the series as the joint second leading run-scorer with 115 runs, helped the left-handed batter jump seven places to 59th.
Regarding the bowlers, senior Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has slipped a spot to 9th despite having had a good run in the T20I series against the West Indies.
On the other hand, youngster Ravi Bishnoi, who finished the series with a tally of 8 wickets, advanced 50 places to 44th. Further, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav were also big movers.
