Abhishek Sharma Becomes the Highest-Ranked T20I Batter

Indian opener Abhishek Sharma is on a historical run. He won the Player of the Match award in the recently concluded Asia Cup. Abhishek was already the number one batter in the ICC rankings. His heroics in the Asia Cup helped him attain 931 rating points.

This happened after he scored 61 runs off 31 deliveries against Sri Lanka in the last Super Six stage game in the Asia Cup. After a dismal performance in the final against Pakistan, Abhishek’s rating dropped to 926, but he is still the number one batter in the ICC rankings. With this rating, Abhishek has broken Dawid Malan’s record, who attained the rating of 919 points in 2020.

Abhishek reached the number one spot in the ICC rankings on September 10 after India’s match against the UAE. He had made 30 runs off 16 deliveries in that game. It was the 18th game of his career. On September 21, Abhishek made 74 runs off 39 deliveries against Pakistan and breached the 900-rating points in the ICC rankings.

Highest Ratings in T20I Rankings for Batters

There have been only six batters in the history of T20Is to go past the 900 rating points. Former Indian captain Virat Kohli was the first batter to attain the 900 rating points. He achieved this mark on September 7, 2014, after scoring 66 runs off 41 deliveries against England. Kohli had 909 rating points to his name. 

Kohli’s record remained for more than six years and was broken by Malan. Malan attained the rating points of 919 on December 1, 2020. Malan’s rating was challenged by India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar had a rating of 912 to his name, and he attained the same in 2023.

Aaron Finch and Babar Azam are the other batters who have achieved 900 rating points in T20I rankings. Finch reached the mark in 2018, while Babar had exactly 900 rating points to his name in 2019.