Virat Kohli could lose his T20I no.1 rank in the upcoming India-South Africa series

Kohli’s Twenty20 position will be at stake in India-South Africa series

India’s Virat Kohli will be defending his ICC Twenty20 international number-one batting position in the upcoming India versus South Africa three-match series. The top-order batsman had moved ahead of Australia’s Aaron Finch, who had slipped to second after missing his side’s T20I against England in Cardiff.

Finch is just seven points behind Kohli and if Kohli wants to retain the top spot, the Test captain of India will have to perform strongly in the series.

The South African T20 captain Faf du Plessis will also be targeting an improvement in his batting ranking. Du Plessis is currently in the fourth position and trails England’s Alex Hales by 47 points.

Other top-ranked batsmen to feature in the forthcoming series include Suresh Raina (11th), JP Duminy (16th), Quinton de Kock (22nd), Hashim Amla (24th), David Miller (31st), MS Dhoni (33rd) and AB de Villiers (39th).

India’s in-form off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be the highest-ranked bowler from either side. The 29-year-old from Chennai is ranked fourth and has Sri Lanka’s third-ranked Sachithra Senanayake firmly within his sights.

For South Africa, leggie Imran Tahir is the highest-ranked bowler in 12th position and will be looking to break into the top 10 for the first time in his career with some impressive performances in the series. He trails Sri Lanka’s 10th-ranked Nuwan Kulasekara by 19 points.

Other bowlers aiming to make progress include Bhuvneshwar Kumar (35th), Kyle Abbott (44th), Harbhajan Singh (49th) and Duminy (60th). Duminy (7th) and Kohli (14th) are their sides’ highest-ranked all-rounders with the list headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.

ICC Player rankings for T20 batsmen

No	Player	Country	Rating
1	Virat Kohli	India	861
2	Aaron Finch	Australia	854
3	Alex Hales	England	841
4	Francois du Plessis	South Africa	794
5	Chris Gayle	West Indies	732
6	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	712
7	Kusal Perera	Sri Lanka	680
8	Eoin Morgan	England	675
9	Martin Guptill	New Zealand	653
10	David Warner	Australia	652

ICC Player rankings for T20 bowlers

Rank	Player	Country	Rating
1	Samuel Badree	West Indies	782
2	Sunil Narine	West Indies	760
3	S. Senanayake	Sri Lanka	684
4	Ravichandran Ashwin	India	669
5	Mitchell Starc	Australia	659
6	Shakib Al Hasan	Bangladesh	652
7	Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka	647
8	Nathan McCullum	New Zealand	642
9	Shahid Afridi	Pakistan	638
10	N. Kulasekara	Sri Lanka	629