Abhishek Sharma leapfrogs Travis Head to become No. 1 batter in T20I rankings

India’s Abhishek Sharma soared to the top of the T20I batters list after leapfrogging Australia’s Travis Head to claim the No. 1 spot in the latest ICC rankings on Wednesday.

Abhishek Sharma pipped Travis Head after the Australian had held the position for over a year, having overtaken Suryakumar Yadav during last year’s T20 World Cup.

The 24-year-old Abhishek Sharma announced his arrival on the international stage last year after smashing 100 off 47 balls in just his second match for the Indian cricket team.

Since breaking into India’s T20I setup, Abhishek Sharma has cemented his place in the top order. In his most recent outing for the Men in Blue, he struck a blistering 135 off just 54 balls against England earlier this year.

Abhishek’s 135 against England is the highest individual score by an Indian in T20Is and the second-fastest century by a player from the country in the format. He reached his hundred in just 37 balls, two shy of Rohit Sharma’s record.

The hard-hitting left-hander has now become just the third Indian batter to become the No. 1 batter in T20Is, following in the footsteps of the legendary Virat Kohli and current T20 captain, Suryakumar Yadav.

Suryakumar Yadav is in sixth position in the latest ICC rankings for T20I batters while Tilak Varma is third.

Still early in his career, Abhishek has scored 535 runs in 17 matches at an average of 33.43 and a stunning strike rate of 193.84 so far.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya continues to occupy the top spot in the ICC T20I all-rounder rankings.

Varun Chakaravarthy is India’s highest-ranked bowler in the ICC T20I rankings in third spot. Ravi Bishnoi is seventh and Arshdeep Singh is 10th.

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