Contrasting fortunes for Virat Kohli, Babar Azam in in ICC rankings after Asia Cup 2022
Virat Kohli has made a jump in the ICC's T20I rankings for batters after he ended the Asia Cup as the second highest run scorer, which included a record 122 not out off 61 balls in India's last match of the tournament.
Former India captain Virat Kohli has made major gains in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) latest update of the T20I rankings after his stellar performances in the recently concluded Asia Cup. Kohli ended the tournament as the second highest run scorer and also scored his first T20I century, which was also his first international century in nearly three years. Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has gone down a spot to third, with South Africa's Aiden Markram replacing him at second place.
“(Kohli) improved a total of 14 spots to 15th overall on the T20I batter rankings due to his efforts,” the ICC said in its statement on Wednesday. Kohli's horrendous run in the T20 cricket over the last three years had seen him fall out of the top 10. However, he looked almost as good as he did at his peak during the Asia Cup, with his steadily improving performances culminating in an unbeaten 122 off 61 balls in India's last Super 4 game against Afghanistan.
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Kohli had played as an opener which means he played through the innings. He surpassed the record held by India captain Rohit Sharma for the highest score for a batter from his country in a T20I.
With that century, Kohli ended his tournament tally at 276 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 147.59. He was well ahead of the chasing pack at the time but Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan caught up with and surpassed him the final which his team lost to Sri Lanka.
Rizwan continues to hold the top billing in the standings while his captain Babar loses a spot after a forgettable outing in the Asia Cup. The opener scored a paltry 68 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 107.93. Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, who was one of the heroes of their win in the final alongwith Bhanuka Rajapaksa, has jumped three places to sixth on the bowler rankings and seven spots to fourth on the all-rounder list after he was crowned Player of the Tournament. Rajapaksa made a 34-spot leap to 34th on the standings.