India’s dynamic left-handed batter Tilak Varma has achieved a career-best second position in the latest ICC T20I rankings for batters, released on Wednesday. The 22-year-old rose to the second spot after his stellar knock of 72* in the second T20I against England. In other words, he is only 23 rating points behind the Australian batter Travis Head and can easily go past Pakistan’s Babar Azam’s record to become the youngest player ever to top the T20I batting rankings.
Babar Azam attained the No. 1 rank in January 2018. He was at the age of 23 years and 105 days. Presently, standing at 22 years and 82 days, history is knocking the door for this young man. The upcoming two T20Is against England are crucial enough to claim him the No. 1 slot.
Dominant Form of Tilak Varma
With 832 rating points, the fourth-best for an Indian batsman in the T20I format, this is behind only the ratings of Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli and has even surpassed the rating of KL Rahul. His form has been excellent and he has looked a different proposition with 107* and 120* scores against South Africa and then another two unbeaten knocks of 19* and 72* against England. Finally, he went without a strike in five when Adil Rashid bowled him with one brilliant delivery as the third T20I finished in Rajkot.
He has scored 725 runs in 23 T20I matches, boasting an average of 55.76 and an incredible strike rate of 155.24 along with two hundreds. He’s sure to become the first Indian to surpass Babar and Head in the list.
Adil Rashid Regains No. 1 Position in Bowling Rankings
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid reclaims number one spot in the ICC T20I bowling rankings, ending Akeal Hosein’s 44-day reign at the top. Rashid’s two tight spells, yielding 1/14 and 1/15 in the second and third T20Is respectively, contributed to England reducing India’s series lead to 2-1.
This is the second time Rashid has reached No. 1, having earlier spent a year at the summit from December 2023 to December 2024. Some notable climbers in the batting charts include Liam Livingstone, who rises five places to 32nd, and India’s Abhishek Sharma, who advances 59 places to 40th. In the bowling rankings, Varun Chakravarthy climbed 25 places to a career-best fifth position, while Jofra Archer improved by 13 places to sixth place. Axar Patel improved five places to 11th position, and Hardik Pandya moved eight places higher to 43rd position.
Test Rankings: Noman Ali and Jomel Warrican Shine
Pakistan left-arm spinner Noman Ali along with West Indies’ Jomel Warrican have achieved a career-best rank after their terrific performances in the second Test between Pakistan and the West Indies in Multan.
Noman became the first Pakistani spinner to claim a Test hat-trick while taking 10 wickets for 121 runs. His onslaught propelled him four spots higher to fifth position with 806 rating points, as of now, making him the only Pakistani bowler to be ranked in the top 20.
Warrican moved 16 places up to 25th with a nine-wicket haul for 70 runs, and won the Player of the Match award. Over two Tests, he took 19 wickets and was also declared Player of the Series. Kemar Roach moved one place up to 18th while Gudakesh Motie jumped six places to 58th.
The bowling ranking on Pakistan’s side saw Sajid Khan jump two places into 21st and Abrar Ahmed two places into 50th. West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, however, moved eight places into 44th by playing a crucial half-century in the second innings as his team won by 120 runs. Their wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan gained seven places from 17th to 15th in the Test batting rankings on Pakistan’s side.
Meteoric rise of Tilak Varma in the ICC T20I rankings has positioned him as one of India’s most promising batters. With only a few more performances standing between him and the No. 1 ranking, Indian cricket fans eagerly await his upcoming matches. Meanwhile, England’s Adil Rashid has cemented his dominance in the T20I bowling rankings, and Pakistan’s Noman Ali and West Indies’ Jomel Warrican have made headlines with their exceptional Test performances. As the rankings continue to evolve, the cricketing world watches closely for the next big milestone.