Indian players shine in latest ICC T20 rankings

Amid all the off-field drama unfolding around the T20 World Cup being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, the Indian players selected for the marquee event to begin on February 7 are displaying their prowess in no uncertain terms.

In the latest ICC T20I rankings released on Wednesday, several Indian players featured in the top 10 lists in all three departments. Explosive opener Abhishek Sharma continues to lead batters by a whopping 80 rating points, strengthening his position at the top following his blistering 68-run innings in the third T20I against New Zealand recently.

India’s T20 skipper Surya Kumar Yadav is back in the top ten batters list following a prolific run against the Kiwis after a long barren spell that saw him go 468 days without a half-century. His match-winning knock of 82 runs in the second match was followed by 57 runs off just 26 balls in the series-winning match.

India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah also gained four places to move to 13th in the bowlers' ranking after three wickets against New Zealand in the third T20I, with teammate Varun Chakravarthy still maintaining his position at the top, following a splendid performance against the Blackcaps.

All-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube also continued to gain in the rankings after performing well in the ongoing series. Hardik is up by one spot to move to third, while Dube jumps five places to be placed at eleven.

With home advantage and players getting into a rich vein of form, the tag of favourites currently sits nicely with the Men in Blue.