Tilak Varma achieves No. 2 in ICC T20I rankings, Varun Chakravarthy storms into top 5

Tilak now sits just behind Travis Head in the batters' list, with the Australian maintaining a 23-point lead at the top

Dubai: Talented India batter Tilak Varma climbed one spot to second, while mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy made a massive leap of 25 places to break into the top five in the latest ICC men’s T20I rankings released on Wednesday.

Varma now sits just behind Travis Head in the batters’ list, with the Australian maintaining a 23-point lead at the top. The young Indian left-hander has been in sublime form, posting scores of 19 not out, 72 not out, and 18 in India’s ongoing T20I series against England.

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With two matches remaining in the series, Varma has a chance to overtake Head and become the youngest-ever player to top the rankings — a record currently held by Babar Azam, who reached No. 1 at the age of 23 years and 105 days.

Varma’s current rating of 832 points is the fourth-highest ever achieved by an Indian batter in T20I history, behind only Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul. India’s Abhishek Sharma also made significant strides, jumping 59 places to 40th, while England’s Liam Livingstone (up five spots to 32nd) and Ben Duckett (up 28 places to 68th) were the biggest gainers from the visiting team.

Chakravarthy’s rise

Chakravarthy’s magical 5/24 in India’s 26-run loss in the third T20I propelled him to top five in the T20I bowling rankings.

Meanwhile, fellow spinner Axar Patel moved up five places to 11th, just outside the top 10. England’s Adil Rashid has reclaimed the No. 1 spot among T20I bowlers. Rashid first claimed the top position at the end of 2023 and held it for much of last year until West Indies’ Akeal Hosein briefly surpassed him before Christmas.

Bumrah continues to dominate Test rankings

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remains the top-ranked Test bowler following his sensational performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

His dominance across formats also earned him the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024. Among Test all-rounders, West Indies’ Jomel Warrican has climbed to 24th, while Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan moved up two places to 15th in the Test batters’ rankings, which continue to be led by England’s Joe Root.