Hardik Pandya Tops T20I All-Rounder Rankings After Stellar World Cup

Hardik Pandya, one of India's T20 World Cup final heroes, jumped two spots on the ICC rankings to place alongside Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga as the top-ranked men's T20I all-rounder, the ICC's official website displayed on Wednesday.

Pandya, who made significant contributions in the T20 World Cup final by taking crucial wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, has become the first Indian male cricketer to reach the top spot in this category.

Throughout the tournament, Pandya's all-round performance was vital for India. He scored 144 runs at a striking rate of over 150 and took 11 wickets, delivering impactful cameos with the bat and making breakthroughs with the ball when needed most. His most crucial performance came in the final, where his decisive wicket of Klaasen swung the game in India's favor. Pandya also bowled the tense final over, defending 16 runs to secure India's T20 World Cup title.

The latest ICC rankings also revealed movements among the top 10 T20I all-rounders. Marcus Stoinis, Sikandar Raza, Shakib Al Hasan, and Liam Livingstone each rose by one spot, while Mohammad Nabi slipped four places, falling out of the top five.

In the men's T20I bowling rankings, Anrich Nortje climbed seven places to a career-best second spot, just behind top-ranked Adil Rashid with 675 rating points. India's fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who won the Player of the Tournament award for his 15 wickets in the T20 World Cup, moved up 12 spots, nearing the top ten for the first time since the end of 2020.

Kuldeep Yadav also made significant progress, entering the top ten by moving up three places to joint-eighth. Other notable risers included Arshdeep Singh, who climbed four spots to a career-best 13th position after leading the wickets chart at the T20 World Cup, and Tabraiz Shamsi, who rose five positions to break into the top 15.

Meanwhile, the top ten of the batting rankings saw minimal changes, with South Africa's Aiden Markram dropping two points following a modest tournament with the bat.

Also Read: Hardik Spell, Virat Innings Behind India's T20 World Cup Triumph After 17 Years