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ICC T20I rankings: Ishan Kishan stays No. 1, Abhishek Sharma rises to No. 2
ICC T20I rankings: Ishan Kishan retains the No. 1 spot while Abhishek Sharma rises to No. 2 after India’s 2-0 series win over Afghanistan. Sanju Samson and India’s bowlers also climb the latest rankings.
India’s strong start to their T20I series against Afghanistan has led to movement among several of their batters in the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings.
The rankings update, released by the International Cricket Council on Wednesday, comes after India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The Indian batting group features prominently in the latest list, with Ishan Kishan retaining the top position and Abhishek Sharma moving into second.
Ishan Kishan continues to be the No. 1-ranked batter in men’s T20Is in the latest ICC rankings. The India wicketkeeper-batter remains ahead of his teammate Abhishek Sharma, who has moved into second place. Kishan and Abhishek are now separated by 51 rating points.
Kishan took over the top spot in July after India’s two-match T20I series against Ireland. He became the fourth Indian batter to reach No. 1 in the format, after Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek.
His rise followed his performances at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup earlier this year, where he scored 317 runs and registered a strike rate of almost 200.
Abhishek has gained one place in the latest rankings and is now the second-ranked T20I batter in the world.
His rise came after an 82-run innings in the opening match of the Afghanistan series. The left-hander moved above Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan following his performance in the series opener.
The latest update leaves India with the top two batters in the T20I rankings. This is the second time in 2026 that Kishan and Abhishek have occupied the top two positions.
The pair had earlier made history by becoming the first Indian batting duo to hold the first and second positions in the ICC Men’s T20I batting rankings. Abhishek was No. 1 and Kishan No. 2 at the time.
Abhishek followed his 82 in the first Afghanistan T20I with 39 in the second match in Delhi. He opened the innings alongside Samson as India chased Afghanistan’s 159-run total with seven wickets and 31 balls remaining.
Samson has made further progress in the latest rankings after his contribution in the second T20I.
The India wicketkeeper-batter has moved up four places to 30th in the T20I batting rankings after scoring a half-century in Delhi.
Samson made 57 off 22 balls in the second match against Afghanistan. His innings came during an 88-run opening partnership with Abhishek, which provided India with a fast start in their chase. The partnership helped India reach the target in 14.5 overs and seal the series with a match to spare.
The latest rankings update also features several Indian bowlers moving up the T20I rankings.
Varun Chakaravarthy has climbed two places to fifth, while Jasprit Bumrah has moved up seven places to 10th. Arshdeep Singh has made an 11-place jump to 14th, while Axar Patel has risen six places to 27th.
India will face Afghanistan in the third and final T20I in Delhi on September 17, with the series already decided 2-0.
PN Vishnu is a contributor with the LiveMint Sports team, where he primarily covers cricket, football and other major sporting events. A passionate sports journalist with nearly a decade of experience in digital media, Vishnu has been an ardent follower of sports for more than 10 years. While he enjoys covering a wide range of disciplines, his biggest sporting passions remain cricket and football. He is also a devoted supporter of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and Manchester United in English football. <br><br> Vishnu pursued a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, in 2016 and graduated in 2017. Since then, he has built an extensive career in sports journalism, working with leading media organisations including Deccan Chronicle and Firstpost. In 2025, he worked for CricXtasy for six months before joining LiveMint in February 2026. <br><br> Over the years, he has reported extensively on marquee sporting events such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Indian Super League (ISL). His reporting has also provided opportunities to interact with some of the game's leading personalities, including India cricketers Yuzvendra Chahal and Dhruv Jurel. <br><br> Away from the newsroom, Vishnu enjoys unwinding with books, discovering new music and binge-watching television series.