Abhishek Sharma back as No. 1 T20I batter; Marco Jansen makes waves in Test rankings

In the wake of his century in Wellington on Tuesday, the 26-year-old displaced his own team-mate Ishan Kishan from the top spot.

Following his T20I century against New Zealand on Monday, India opener Abhishek Sharma has returned to the top spot in the latest ICC rankings for batters. He displaces his own team-mate Ishan Kishan, who has missed the second and third games on account of injury. 26-year-old Abhishek has contributed 29, 27 and 113 (off 38 balls) so far in the five-game series.

Abhishek Sharma celebrates after reaching his century during the 3rd T20I match. (AFP)

“The innings [the fourth T20I century of his career] was enough to see the left-hander displace teammate Ishan Kishan and move back into the No.1 spot for T20I batters. Kishan had taken the premier position from Abhishek in July this year following some decent efforts in Ireland, with Abhishek first ascending to the No.1 spot back in July of 2025 when he overtook Australia's Travis Head,” the ICC said in a media release on Wednesday.

Abhishek now has 897 rating points, 31 ahead of third-placed Kishan, who has seen a drop of two rungs. Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan occupies the second spot at 883 points. Meanwhile, India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has slipped five places down to ninth.

Jansen on top of the world

Proteas all-rounder Marco Jansen is the other player to make waves in the rankings this week, although in a different format. It’s been a double delight for the 26-year-old. The tall fast-bowling allrounder contributed 26&35 (Durban) and 85 (Gqeberha) with the bat in the first two Test matches against the visiting Australians. Besides, he returned figures of 3/68&1/45 and 5/33&1/34 in those games.

As a result, he has become the number one Test bowler in the world as well as the best all-rounder in the format. Jansen (876 rating points) has jumped five places to the top spot in the bowlers' list. He is followed by Mitchell Starc, Matt Henry, Ollie Robinson and Jasprit Bumrah in the top-5. In the ranking for Test all-rounders, Jansen dethroned India’s Ravindra Jadeja, who now holds the second position.

"Jadeja had held that mantle for more than four years, with Jansen rising to the top of the charts for Test all-rounders for the first time. There are plenty of other big movers following the latest update to the rankings, with South Africa captain Temba Bavuma also making ground as he jumps four spots to second overall on the list for Test batters following his Player of the Match exploits against the Aussies in the second Test,” the ICC added.