ICC T20I Rankings: Tilak Varma becomes highest-ranked Indian batter at second, Varun Chakaravarthy makes huge jump

Tilak Varma jumped a place to become the highest-ranked Indian batter in the latest ICC T20I Rankings released on Wednesday. The left-hander, who is having a wonderful run in the shortest format of the game, is currently placed second only to Australia's Travis Head. The only other Indians in the top 10 are captain Suryakumar Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Notably, Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped one place to be at ninth. Suryakumar remained static at fourth. Among the bowlers, India's Varun Chakaravarthy, who registered his second five-wicket haul in T20Is a day before, jumped a huge 25 places to enter the top five.

Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, who became India's highest wicket-taker in T20Is, remained static at ninth while leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi dropped five places to be at 10th. Among the all-rounders, there wasn't any specific change with India's Hardik Pandya leading the chart.

Following the retirement of Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma has cemented his No.3 spot with some magnificent shows in the last few months. In his last five T20I innings, the southpaw remained unbeaten on four occasions, which included two centuries against South Africa and one half-century against England in the ongoing series.

Tilak Varma can pip Babar Azam, Travis Head

The 23-year-old could overtake Travis Head if he manages good scores in the final two games against England with the Australian playing no T20Is at the moment. In case Tilak Varma goes past Travis Head, then he will become the youngest cricketer to top the ICC Rankings.

The current record is held by Pakistan's Babar Azam, who rose to the top of ICC T20I Rankings at the age of 23 years and 105 days. Tilak Varma is currently aged 22 years and 82 days.

Meanwhile, England's Adil Rashid reclaimed the no.1 spot among the bowlers. He became top-ranked for the first time in 2023 before West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein overtook him. Adil Rashid regained his spot after three economical spells against India in the ongoing series.