India spinner Varun Chakravarthy rose to No.1 in the ICC men's T20I bowler rankings on Wednesday (September 17).
Varun Chakravarthy tops ICC T20I bowling charts for first time
The India spinner has excelled in the side's first two matches of the 2025 Asia Cup, with figures of 1-4 against UAE and 1-24 against Pakistan. Since returning to the T20I setup in October 2024, the 34-year-old mystery spinner has taken 33 wickets in 14 matches, averaging 11.42 and conceding 7.25 runs per over.
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This is the first time that Chakravarthy has made it to the top of the ICC bowling rankings. He reached No.2 in the rankings after taking 2-25 against England in February this year. Only Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav for India have achieved a higher rating than his current 733.
Sri Lanka quick Nuwan Thushara also made a significant jump from 12th to 6th in the bowling rankings, while Abrar Ahmed went from 27th to 16th. Kuldeep rose 16 places to 23rd, while England's Sam Curran leapt 17 spots after his return to international cricket against South Africa last week.
Saim Ayub ranked joint-fifth among all-rounders
Pakistan opener Saim Ayub's start to the Asia Cup has been a mixed bag, with two golden ducks and five wickets. The latter has helped him climb four spots in the T20I all-rounder rankings, to joint-fifth alongside the West Indies' Roston Chase.
Ayub's batting rating took a hit though, as he fell five spots. Teammate Hassan Nawaz also tumbled 12 places in the rankings to 47th, while Sahibzada Farhan and Mohammad Haris gained 18 and 22 places respectively. Sri Lanka rookie Kamil Mishara earned a 13-spot boost after his clinical performance against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup.
Aiden Markram gained 10 spots in the batting rankings, moving into joint-30th. Abhishek Sharma remains the No.1 T20I batter in the world, and his current rating of 884 is the ninth-best of all-time. Suryakumar Yadav (912) and Virat Kohli (909) are the only Indians to better that.
ICC T20I rankings: Top 10 batters on September 17, 2025
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Abhishek Sharma | India | 884 |
| 2 | Phil Salt | England | 838 |
| 3 | Jos Buttler | England | 794 |
| 4 | Tilak Varma | India | 792 |
| 5 | Travis Head | Australia | 771 |
| 6 | Pathum Nissanka | Sri Lanka | 751 |
| 7 | Suryakumar Yadav | India | 747 |
| 8 | Tim Seifert | New Zealand | 725 |
| 9 | Kusal Perera | Sri Lanka | 679 |
| 10 | Tim David | Australia | 676 |
Top winners and losers:
- 89th - Mohammad Haris (+22)
- Joint 55th - Sahibzada Farhan (+18)
- 61st - Kamil Mishara (+13)
- 47th - Hassan Nawaz (-12)
- Joint 40th - Brian Bennett (+11)
ICC T20I rankings: Top 10 bowlers on September 17, 2025
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Varun Chakravarthy | India | 733 |
| 2 | Jacob Duffy | New Zealand | 717 |
| 3 | Akeal Hosein | West Indies | 707 |
| 4 | Adam Zampa | Australia | 700 |
| 5 | Adil Rashid | England | 696 |
| 6 | Nuwan Thushara | Sri Lanka | 677 |
| 7 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka | 664 |
| 8 | Ravi Bishnoi | India | 661 |
| 9 | Nathan Ellis | Australia | 658 |
| 10 | Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | 657 |
Top winners and losers:
- 78th - Dushmantha Chameera (+33)
- Joint 49th - Sam Curran (+17)
- 23rd - Kuldeep Yadav (+16)
- Joint 79th - Shakeel Ahmed (+14)
- 66th - Hardik Pandya (-13)
ICC T20I rankings: Top 10 all-rounders on September 17, 2025
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Hardik Pandya | India | 237 |
| 2 | Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan | 213 |
| 3 | Sikandar Raza | Afghanistan | 210 |
| 4 | Dipendra Singh Airee | Nepal | 209 |
| 5 | Roston Chase | West Indies | 196 |
| 5 | Saim Ayub | Pakistan | 196 |
| 7 | Liam Livingstone | England | 189 |
| 8 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka | 185 |
| 9 | Romario Shepherd | West Indies | 183 |
| 10 | Marcus Stoinis | Australia | 179 |
Top winners and losers:
- 52nd - Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (+21)
- 85th - Shaheen Afridi (+21)
- 35th - Charith Asalanka (+10)
- 81st - Shakeel Ahmed (+9)
- 59th - Ryan Burl (+8)
- Joint 64th - Karim Janat (-8)
- Joint 74th - Brian Bennett (+8)
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