Suryakumar Yadav’s tenure as the No.1 T20I batter came to an end as Australia’s Travis Head claimed the top spot in the ICC T20I rankings. Suryakumar had held the top rank since December 2023, but Head’s outstanding performances in the T20 World Cup, where he opened the batting for Australia, brought about a major change in the rankings.
Head surged four places to claim the top position, with Suryakumar, Phil Salt, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan all dropping a place each to complete the top five. Head’s ascent was driven by his explosive 76 off 43 balls in Australia’s final Super Eight game of the tournament. Despite his efforts, Australia was eliminated after Afghanistan’s victory over Bangladesh secured their first-ever World Cup semi-final berth.
Head accumulated 255 runs in seven matches, averaging 42 with a strike rate of 158, the highest among batters with more than 200 runs in the tournament. Suryakumar, who has scored 149 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 139, has a chance to reclaim his position when India faces England in the semi-final on Thursday.
He is just two rating points behind Head and could regain the top spot with strong performance in the upcoming matches.
West Indies’ Johnson Charles made his way into the top ten, rising four spots, while Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz climbed five spots to rank just below Charles.
However, it wasn’t all positive news for Australia. Marcus Stoinis lost his No. 1 position in the All-rounders Rankings, dropping to fourth. India’s Hardik Pandya rose to third, Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi to second, and Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga reclaimed the top spot. West Indies’ Roston Chase made a significant leap, moving up 17 places to 12th among all-rounders.
In the bowling rankings, England’s Adil Rashid remained at the top, but Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan moved up to second place after his impressive World Cup performances, with Josh Hazlewood climbing three spots to fourth, behind Hasaranga.
Notable movements included India’s Kuldeep Yadav, who rose 20 places to 11th, Jasprit Bumrah, who jumped 44 spots to 24th, and England’s Jofra Archer, who moved up 19 places to 38th following his return from injury. Bumrah has taken 11 wickets in this World Cup with an exceptional economy rate of 4.08.
