(Image source from: x.com/BCCI)
India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya created history on Wednesday (July 3) by becoming the first Indian cricketer to be ranked No. 1 in the ICC T20I all-rounder rankings. The 30-year-old cricketer performed brilliantly for India in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024 where India defeated South Africa by seven wickets in the final to secure the Numero Uno spot. In the summit match played at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday (June 29), Hardik scored 20 runs in 3 overs and took 3 wickets as India scored a total of 176 runs and 17 runs to defend the year-long wait the championship has begun. Come to an End Won his second T20 World Cup title. The Baroda-born cricketer finished the T20 World Cup 2024 with 144 runs and 11 wickets. In the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday, Hardik, who replaced Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup, has moved up two places to the top spot. His score is 222. Before Hardik, no Indian cricketer has reached No. 1 in the T20I all-rounder rankings.
Beast with the bat. Beast with the ball
— ICC (@ICC) July 3, 2024
Presenting the new joint-No.1 Ranked Men's T20I All-Rounder, Hardik Pandya #T20WorldCup | : https://t.co/josnW8GAzf pic.twitter.com/mIb3jZc1Cs
Hardik becomes the sixth Indian cricketer to reach the number one ranking in T20Is after Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnavi. While Gambhir, Kohli and Suriya have topped the list of batsmen in the past, Bumrah and Bishnoi are the only two Indian bowlers to have topped the list. Star all-rounder Axar Patel, who finished the 2024 T20 World Cup with nine wickets, is the highest-ranked Indian bowler in T20Is. He climbed one place to seventh and Kuldeep Yadav moved up three places to eighth. The star spinner has dismissed ten bowlers in five games for India. T20 World Cup 2024 Jaspit Bumrah, the top player in the World Cup 2024 tournament, has moved up 12 places to 12th, while Arshdeep Singh is currently at 13th. Among batsmen, Suryakumar Yadav has retained his second position in the T20I batsman rankings while Yashaswi Jaiswal is at seventh position.
