Kuldeep jumps to 2nd spot, India trail Pakistan
Dubai, Feb. 11: Talented wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has moved up a notch to grab a career- best second position in the latest ICC T20 International rankings, where India maintained their second position behind Pakistan despite dropping two ranking points.
Kuldeep scalped two for 26 in the final T20I against New Zealand, which his side lost by four runs to go 2- 1 down in the series. The 24- year- old accounted for well- set openers Tim Seifert and Colin Munro in the only match he played during the series and reaped immediate dividends.
He is now second only to Afghanistan leg- spinner Rashid Khan in the table. There are no other Indian
bowler in the top- 10. Kuldeep’s spin bowling partner Yuzvendra Chahal after an indifferent series against New Zealand, dropped six places to be 17th while Bhuvneshwar Kumar maintained his 18th rank.
In the batsmen’s list, Indian vice- captain Rohit Sharma swapped three places with compatriot KL Rahul, who didn’t feature in the recently- concluded series. The batting chart is
In whatever opportunities he has got, Vijay Shankar has shown the skillsets required at this level. We have been grooming him through India A tours in the last two years. — M. S. K. PRASAD, BCCI chief selector
headed by talented
Pakistani batsman Babar
Azam.
Rohit is seventh as per latest rankings while Rahul has slipped to 10th place. Rohit’s opening partner Shikhar Dhawan has gained a place to be 11th while Virat Kohli’s absence from the series affected his ranking.
The Indian skipper dropped four places to be jointly 19th with Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza. Left- arm spinner Krunal Pandya was another spinner to move up as he advanced 39 places to a career- best 58th.
For Kiwis, Kane Williamson ( up one place to 12th) and Ross Taylor ( up seven places to 51st) are some notable gainers.