Abhishek Sharma breaks records in new T20I Rankings; a new face at the No.1 in all-rounder rankings

Abhishek Sharma has made history following an incredible Asia Cup performance in which he amassed 314 runs in seven games and was named player of the tournament. Abhishek Sharma continues to receive praise after breaking a nearly five-year-old record and achieving the highest-ever rating on the ICC Men's T20I Batter Rankings.

Maintaining his position at the top of the ICC men's T20I batters ranking, the brilliant left-handed opener's rating points rose to 931, the maximum any player has ever attained in this sport's format. He topped the chart at the time, surpassing the five-year-old record set by England's Dawid Malan, who peaked in December 2020 with 919 rating points.

Abhishek got 926 points in the most recent biweekly publication of the ICC rankings. However, he had a low score of 5 (6) against Pakistan in the event final, which caused his ratings to dip from 931 to 926. Prior to then, the left-hander had three back-to-back 30-plus scores in the event and three consecutive half-centuries.

In another news of latest ICC Rankings, Pakistan's Saim Ayub has halted Hardik Pandya's stint at the top of the T20I all-rounder rankings. Despite having terrible batting form, Ayub managed to take eight wickets with the ball, which helped him move up four spots overall and pass Pandya to take the top rank among all-rounders. 

Pandya dipped to second and eight rating points behind Ayub, while Pakistan's Mohammad Nawaz (up four ranks to 13th) and Sri Lanka's Charith Asalanka (up three places to equal 30th) were the other players to make ground in the all-rounder category this week.

Saim's rise is unexpected because in the recently concluded Asia Cup, he was more successful with the ball than with the bat. While he picked up eight wickets in seven matches at a remarkable economy rate of 6.40 per over, his major job, i.e. batting, gave paltry returns. Saim averaged less than four runs per innings, managing just 37. In fact, Saim bagged four ducks in the Asia Cup, including one against India.

This has raised concerns among people, who wonder how the rating system actually works, as having such a horrible batting record still led him to the top of the all-rounder rankings, which requires efforts with both the bat and the ball.

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