ICC T20I Rankings: KL Rahul drops out of top 3 as Dawid Malan becomes top-ranked batsman

England batsman Dawid Malan has overtaken Pakistan's Babar Azam in the latest ICC T20I rankings to become the premier T20I batsman in the world. Indian wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul also lost his second rank as he slipped to the fourth spot.

In the latest T20I rankings released by ICC, which came post the England-Australia series, Dawid Malan perched himself at the numero uno spot.

Dawid Malan was the top run-scorer in the series and aggregated 129 runs in three games at an average of 43. Even in the last series against Pakistan, the southpaw managed 84 runs in three games.

Dawid Malan has 877 rating points, while the second-placed Babar Azam has 869 rating points. Australian captain Aaron Finch has held on to the third rank, but KL Rahul dropped to the fourth spot with 824 points. Even Colin Munro slipped to fifth.

English skipper Eoin Morgan did not have a great summer. As a result, he lost three places and fell to the 10th position. Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has gained one place to achieve the ninth spot.

Speaking of the bowlers' rankings, Adam Zampa dropped to the fifth rank, while Kane Richardson and Adil Rashid progressed two places each.

Can KL Rahul continue his fantastic form in IPL 2020?

Although KL Rahul lost his 2nd position in the ICC T20I Rankings, he is still the highest run-getter in T20Is this year among Test-playing nations.

The Kings XI Punjab captain had scored 323 runs in seven T20I innings before the COVID-19 break, and his extraordinary performances took him close to the number 1 spot in the T20I Rankings.

Unfortunately, KL Rahul did not receive an opportunity to play a T20I game after February 2020.

He is set to return to the cricket field on 20th September, when he leads KXIP in their IPL 2020 opener against Delhi Capitals. It will be interesting to see if KL Rahul can replicate the success that he achieved in the T20 format, once he takes the field after a prolonged break.