ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli Moves To 9th Spot In T20I Batting Rankings After Magnificent Knock Against Pakistan

India batter Virat Kohli ascended to the 9^th spot after his marvelous knock against arch-rivals Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23^rd in their opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.

India defeated Pakistan by 4 wickets in an all-time classic encounter between the two sides at the MCG. Pakistan had posted 159/8 batting first after losing the toss in MCG with Iftikhar Ahmed scoring 51 and Shan Masood making 52*.

This came after Arshdeep Singh had shocked the fans as he got Pakistan captain Babar Azam out for a golden duck on his T20 World Cup debut and then accounted for Mohammad Rizwan with a short ball. He finished with figures of 3/32 and Hardik Pandya assisted him with 3/30 in their respective four overs.

India was rocked by Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf as they found themselves 45/4 in 10 overs. Then Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) added 113 runs for the fifth wicket. Needing 48 runs in last 18 balls, Kohli slammed Shaheen Afridi for three fours, then hit Haris Rauf for 2 sixes before hitting Mohammad Nawaz for a six off a no-ball in the last over, when 16 runs were needed of the last ball.

Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 in 53 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes, as India won by 4 wickets. Thanks to this amazing innings, the 33-year-old moved up five spots to ninth on the latest update of ICC t20I batting rankings that were released on Wednesday.

While Mohammad Rizwan remains the no.1 ranked batter, New Zealand’s Devon Conway threatens his place as he risen three places to second following his unbeaten 92 against Australia at the T20 World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav moved to 3^rd spot, while Babar Azam moved to fourth.

Rashid Khan Becomes No.1 Ranked T20I Bowler, Reclaims Top Spot From Josh Hazlewood

In the bowling side of things, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan reclaimed the no.1 spot after his 1/17 against England in the T20 World Cup 2022 match in Perth. Josh Hazlewood moved to the second spot despite having three wickets from two matches so far for Australia, but the 31-year-old has been uncharacteristically expensive during spells against New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the tournament.

Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga drops three places to sixth after being hammered by Australia, while England seamer Sam Curran moves up an eye-catching eight spots to eighth overall following his record-breaking five-wicket haul against Afghanistan.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the lone Indian in the top 10 bowlers.

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