ICC rankings: Kuldeep breaks into top 5 in T20I rankings
Indian cricket team's mystery spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, is enjoying the form of his life. The left-arm spinner has been quite a revelation, especially in T20Is. This term has been wonderful for the player, who ended 2018 as India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Kuldeep's solid performance against Australia in the recently concluded three-match series, sees him break into top five in the ICC T20I rankings.
Kuldeep gains 20 places to claim number three spot
Kuldeep has gained 20 places to claim the third position in the ICC T20I rankings for bowlers. Kuldeep replaced England spinner Adil Rashid, who slipped to fourth in the rankings. The Indian bowler was exceptional in the T20Is against Australia and claimed four wickets in three matches. In all the three matches, he conceded below six runs an over.
Kuldeep third spinner to pick 20+ T20I wickets in 2018
Kuldeep has been dominating the T20I circuit since quite some time. He picked 21 wickets in T20Is this year. He was the third spinner to pick 20+ wickets in 2018 after Shadab Khan and Rashid Khan. He also has the lowest economy rate among the top ten T20I wicket-takers this year. Kuldeep has also accounted for 45 scalps in ODIs this year (second highest).
8 spinners feature in top
Besides Kuldeep, Aussie leg-spinner Adam Zampa too gained 17 places to break into the top 5. Zampa impressed with his bowling against India and occupies the fifth place. The duo's entry means that the top five rankings belong to spinners completely. Further, eight spinners feature overall in the top ten rankings. This shows how the T20Is have been dominated by spin show.
Batsmen: Dhawan rises to 11th, Rohit, Rahul's rankings dip
Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the only other Indian bowlers to feature in the top 20 rankings. In the rankings for batsmen, Indian duo of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma dropped two places each to be on sixth and ninth positions respectively. Shikhar Dhawan gained five places to be placed on 11th. Indian skipper Virat Kohli held on to his 14th position.
India, Australia lose a point each in team's rankings
In the all-rounder section, Australia's Glenn Maxwell kept his number one position with 362 points to his name. As far as the teams are concerned, India kept their number two position intact. But they lost one point to have a total of 126. Australia kept their fourth place, but like India, they also lost one point. Fifth-placed South Africa gained three points.
