KL Rahul slips to the third spot in ICC T20I Batting Rankings

Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch has replaced India’s KL Rahul at the No. 2 spot in the ICC T20I Rankings for batsmen.

Under fire after a horrendous Big Bash League in the 2020-21 season, Aaron Finch had a productive series with the bat against New Zealand in Australia’s 2-3 defeat. He scored 197 runs in the five-T20I series, striking at 134.

Aaron Finch now has a rating of 830, whereas KL Rahul is at 816. England’s Dawid Malan continues to comfortably lead the charts with a rating of 915.

KL Rahul has an opportunity to climb up the charts during the T20I series against England starting Friday.

The 28-year-old's last international appearance happened to be in the final T20I of the India-Australia series in December. India won the series, and KL Rahul ended up scoring 81 runs.

New Zealand’s Martin Guptill has also broken into the Top 10 of the rankings for T20I batsmen.

With 218 runs at a strike rate of over 159, Guptill starred in New Zealand’s series win against Australia. The Kiwi opener gained three places to climb to eighth spot.

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli – only two India batsmen in the Top 10 of the T20I Rankings

Apart from KL Rahul, the only Indian batsman to find himself in the Top 10 of the T20I Batting Rankings is Virat Kohli. The Indian captain is in sixth spot, three rating points clear of Australia’s Glenn Maxwell.

Rohit Sharma is the only other Indian batsman in the Top 20, remaining in 14th spot.

With 2,928 runs in T20Is, Virat Kohli is the highest run-getter in this format and taking a cut-off of 1,000 runs; he is the only cricketer to average above 50.

KL Rahul is currently the sixth-highest run-getter for India in T20Is after Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina.

With 1,542 runs at an average of 44.05 and a strike rate touching 145, KL Rahul is regarded as one of the finest batters in the shortest format.