Abhishek Sharma’s near 12-month reign as the world’s top-ranked ICC T20I batter has come to an end with his India teammate Ishan Kishan becoming the new No. 1 – the first time he has achieved the spot
in his international career. Abhishek has slipped to the second spot.
The ICC rankings, updated following the recent India-Ireland T20I series, has seen Ishan being rewarded for an impressive return to international cricket earlier this year in January. He was pivotal to India winning the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, during which the wicketkeeper-batter scored 317 runs at an excellent strike-rate of 193.29 from 9 innings.
The gap between the India teammates, though, is just 7 rating points.
| Rank | Name | Country | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ishan Kishan | India | 876 |
| 2 | Abhishek Sharma | India | 869 |
| 3 | Sahibzada Farhan | Pakistan | 848 |
| 4 | Phil Salt | England | 792 |
| 5 | Pathum Nissanka | Sri Lanka | 708 |
| 6 | Tilak Varma | India | 747 |
| 7 | Jos Buttler | England | 716 |
| 8 | Suryakumar Yadav | India | 708 |
| 9 | Mitchell Marsh | Australia | 706 |
| 10 | Dewald Brevis | South Africa | 702 |
Top 10 batters in ICC T20I Rankings (Updated on July 1, 2026)
Indian Batters To Have Held World No. 1 Ranking In Men’s Cricket
Ishan has thus become just the fourth Indian after Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Abhishek to top the ICC rankings for T20I batters.
Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan remains third, followed by England’s Phil Salt, with Sri Lankan Pathum Nissanka completing the top-five.
Suryakumar, who earlier this year led India’s victorious campaign at the T20 World Cup, has slipped a spot to No. 8. He was not only removed as India T20I captain months after the triumph but also lost his place in the team thanks to his dipping form.
Varun Drops A Spot In T20I Rankings For Bowlers
Even as Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan maintained his hold over the top spot in ICC Rankings for T20I bowlers, India’s Varun Chakaravarthy, who hasn’t played T20Is since the final of the World Cup in March, has slipped a spot to third spot with Pakistani Abrar Ahmed rising to No. 2.
Jasprit Bumrah has dropped to sixth spot, but Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel have remained static at No. 16 and No. 19 respectively.
Among the all-rounders, India’s Shivam Dube has gained three places to be ranked seventh in the world now.
