ICC T20I Rankings: Tilak Varma reaps rewards after twin tons against South Africa, Hardik Pandya reclaims top spot

Young India batter Tilak Varma reaped rewards of back-to-back T20I tons against South Africa as the southpaw made a massive jump of 69 places to enter the top 10 among the batters in the latest ICC Rankings which was announced on Wednesday. Varma is now placed third among the batters. 

Meanwhile, his senior teammate Hardik Pandya reclaimed the top spot among the all-rounders, thus overtaking England dasher Liam Livingstone and Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee. Pandya was rewarded for his superlative show against South Africa with both bat and ball.

Pandya has had a mixed 2024. After being booed by fans while leading Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, Pandya shut critics by playing a vital role in India's T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados. It is also the second time Pandya rose to the top of T20I all-rounders rankings, with the consistent India performer first rising to the top at the end of this year's T20 World Cup.

As far as Tilak Varma is concerned, the Mumbai Indians star struggled in the first two T20Is against South Africa before smashing back-to-back hundreds to grab the limelight. He is currently sitting third behind No.1 Travis Head of Australia and England's Phil Salt.

The left-hander scored 280 runs in four games at an astonishing strike rate of 198, smashing 20 sixes across four innings against South Africa. 

Suryakumar Yadav drops, Sanju Samson rises

However, India captain Suryakumar Yadav dropped one place to fourth after his flop show against the Proteas. Teammate Sanju Samson - who also managed two centuries during the series with South Africa - climbed 17 spots to 22nd on the same list for T20I batters.

Among the bowlers, India's Arshdeep Singh gained three places to move to a career-high of ninth spot following his exploits with the ball against South Africa. Australian duo Adam Zampa and Nathan Ellis are among the biggest movers on the updated rankings for T20I bowlers.