Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi becomes new top-ranked bowler in Men’s T20I rankings

New Delhi, Dec 6 – India’s leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi has become the new number one bowler in the latest update to the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings on Wednesday. Bishnoi only made his international debut against West Indies in February 2022.

But some consistent performances have seen the 23-year-old rise four spots to be on top of the men’s T20I bowler rankings. Bishnoi was recently named Player of the Series during India’s successful 4-1 T20I series triumph over Australia on home soil, taking nine wickets at an average of 18.22.

Overall, Bishnoi has picked up a total of 34 wickets from 21 T20I matches at an average of 17.38, with a strike rate of 14.5 and an economy rate of 7.14. Bishnoi first caught the eye of the world at the ICC Men’s Under 19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2020.

In that tournament, the Jodhpur-raised leg-spinner took the most wickets (17) of all players as India finished as runners up behind champions Bangladesh. With Bishnoi’s jump to the top, it means Rashid Khan (second), Adil Rashid (equal third), Wanindu Hasaranga (equal third) and Maheesh Theekshana (fifth) all drop one spot inside the top 10, while India left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel rises 16 places to 11th in bowlers’ rankings.

The biggest movers on the latest T20I rankings for batters sees India’s left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal soar up 16 places to 19th behind top-ranked teammate Suryakumar Yadav. Australia’s left-handed Travis Head improves 16 places to 29th after the pair performed admirably during the recently-concluded series.

India opener Shubman Gill (batting) and South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj (bowling) remain in the top position of the ODI rankings, although there were a few changes following the opening game of the series between the West Indies and England in the Caribbean.

West Indies skipper Shai Hope improves four places to 11th on the list for ODI batters after he scored his 16th ODI century in Antigua, while teammate Brandon King jumps six spots to 78th position.

The top 10 Test bowlers remains unchanged behind first-placed veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson re-enters the Test bowlers rankings at No.13 following his return to red-ball cricket.

On the other hand, Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam jumps four places to a career-best 14th after his 10-wicket haul and Player of the Match heroics against the Kiwis in the first Test. Taijul’s total of 708 rating points is the highest-ever by a Bangladesh bowler, surpassing Shakib Al Hasan’s 705 achieved in August 2017.

Kane Williamson remains the top-ranked Test batter, while Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto jumps 13 places to 42nd after his superb century in the second innings against New Zealand. New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell rises one place to seventh position inside the top on the list for batters after scores of 41 and 58 in Sylhet.