{
  "id": 7771882,
  "title": "ICC T20I Batting Rankings: Abhishek Sharma Rises To 2nd, Ishan Kishan Retains Top Spot After Afghanistan Heroics",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/icc-t20i-batting-rankings-abhishek-sharma-rises-to-2nd-ishan-kishan",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T10:50:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/sports/icc-t20i-batting-rankings-abhishek-sharma-rises-to-2nd-ishan-kishan-retains-top-spot-after-afghanistan-heroics"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Dubai, India's Abhishek Sharma has ascended to second place in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings, following his impressive 82 in the series opener. His rise to the second spot was one level above Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan. Ishan Kishan, India's teammate, maintains his top position in the rankings after Afghanistan's victory in their three-match series. Kishan now leads the T20I batting chart, with Sharma trailing by 51 rating points. Sanju Samson also experienced a significant improvement, climbing to 30th place after his half-century in the second match against Afghanistan. India's bowling rankings saw notable advancements as well, with Varun Chakaravarthy moving up to fifth, Jasprit Bumrah to 10th, Arshdeep Singh to 14th, and Axar Patel to 27th. Afghan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai also climbed the T20I all-rounder rankings after scoring an unbeaten half-century in the opening match. Australian players Nathan Ellis, Matthew Renshaw, and Cooper Connolly also made gains in the ODI rankings after Australia's 59-run win over Zimbabwe. England's Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue achieved career-best ratings in the Test rankings after their strong performances against Pakistan. Babar Azam and Shan Masood also showed improvement in the Test batting rankings following Pakistan's 3-0 series loss.",
  "summary": "Dubai: India’s Abhishek Sharma climbed to second place in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings released on Wednesday, while teammate Ishan Kishan retained the top spot after the reigning T20 World Cup champions took an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match series against Afghanistan. Abhishek moved up one place after his blistering 82 in the series opener, overtaking Pakistan’s Sahibzada…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}