DUBAI: India skipper Virat Kohli, following his stellar performance in the ongoing series against England, broke back into the top of the ICC T20 batsmen rankings on Wednesday.
Kohli, formerly a top-ranked batsman in the format and currently No. 1 in ODIs, gained one slot and a massive 47 rating points after unbeaten knocks of 73 and 77 in the second and third matches against England. He is now fifth.
K.L. Rahul remains the top-ranked Indian batsmen — he is fourth — despite three failures in the series so far.
Shreyas Iyer moved up 32 places to the 31st spot while Rishabh Pant gained 30 spots to be ranked 80th.
Among the bowlers, all-rounder Washington Sundar is up two places to 11th while seamers Shardul Thakur (up 14 places to 27th) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (up seven places to 45th) also gained.
Jos Buttler re-entered the top-20 after his match-winning 83 not out in the third T20I. The knock helped him climb five places to 19th, just two shy of his career-best 17th in October 2018.
Jonny Bairstow, who chipped in with 40 and was associated in an unbroken 77-run stand with Buttler in the eight-wicket win on Tuesday, has moved up two slots to 14th in the list led by compatriot Dawid Malan. Opener Jason Roy, with scores of 49 and 46 in the first two matches, advanced four slots to 24th.
Fast bowlers Jofra Archer (up 43 places to 34th) and Mark Wood (up 59 spots to 39th), as well as left-arm seamer Sam Curran (up 41 places to 74th) have gained in the weekly update.AGENCIES