Peaking on time: India flex T20 World Cup muscle as Suryakumar Yadav storms back into ICC top 10

NEW DELHI: India’s preparations for the T20 World Cup received a major shot in the arm on Wednesday as captain Suryakumar Yadav surged back into the upper echelon of the ICC men’s T20I batting rankings, underlining the team’s growing dominance just days before the global showpiece.

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Suryakumar climbed five places to seventh following a prolific run in the ongoing five-match home series against New Zealand, which India lead 3-0. The former world No.1 has looked back to his fluent best, striking scores of 32, 82 not out and 57 not out, combining innovation with control as India tightened their grip on the series.




The bigger picture, however, paints an even more ominous warning for rivals. India now boast three batters inside the top 10 of the T20I rankings, with Abhishek Sharma sitting proudly at No.1 and Tilak Varma close behind in third.

The rankings update also brought rewards for several other Indian batters. Ishan Kishan re-entered the list at 64th after a blistering 76 off 32 balls in Raipur, while Shivam Dube jumped nine places to 58th and Rinku Singh rose 13 spots to 68th, reflecting the breadth of contributions from the top-ranked T20I side.


Beyond India, Afghanistan enjoyed notable gains after their 2-1 series win over the West Indies in Dubai. Ibrahim Zadran moved up to 13th, Rahmanullah Gurbaz climbed to 15th, and Player-of-the-Series Darwish Rasooli leapt 29 places to 87th.

In the bowling rankings, Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman broke into the top 10, while India’s Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi also climbed. Hardik Pandya made strides across categories, improving in batting, bowling and all-rounder standings.


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