KL Rahul attains career-best third T20I ranking

Batsman KL Rahul has become the highest-ranked Indian T20I player according to the recently released International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings on Monday.

Rahul's scores of 70, 101 not out, six and 19 in last four T20I matches have helped him move up nine places to a career-high third position.

The 26-year old is placed behind Australian skipper Aaron Finch and Pakistani batsman Fakhar Zaman who have grabbed first and second spot, respectively.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli, on the other hand, slipped down four places to settle with the 12th position.

Meanwhile, Australian opener Aaron Finch became the first player in the history of Twenty20 Internationals to break the 900-point mark as he moved up three places to finish as the top-ranked batsman in the shortest format of the game.

Finch, who captained Australia to the final of the tri-series in Harare against Pakistan and Zimbabwe, had touched the 900-point mark following his record-breaking knock of 172 against Zimbabwe in Harare on July 3.

The 31-year-old eventually finished the T20Is at number-one position with 891 points.
Like Finch, Fakhar Zaman of Pakistan was in stellar form in Harare, where he totalled 278 runs in the series, including a match-winning knock of 91 against Australia after Pakistan had slumped to two for two after setting a victory target of 184.

Fakhar's string of good scores, that also included knocks of 61, six, 47 and 73, have helped him vault 44 places to claim the second position.

The 28-year-old has now become Pakistan's highest-ranked batsman after Babar Azam slipped from first to fifth due to his absence because of an injury.

Australia's D'Arcy Short, Jason Roy of England and Solomon Mire have also achieved career-best rankings following the latest rankings update.

Short has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in 10th position, moving up 18 places. Roy has gained 19 places and is now in 15th spot, while Mire has rocketed 202 places to claim 25th position - seven places behind Hamilton Masakadza.

In the bowling table, Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Shadab Khan of Pakistan have retained the top two positions, but there have been a number of movements down the order with Australia's Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake, and England's trio of Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey achieving career-high rankings.

Tye has risen 41 places to the seventh spot in the latest rankings after taking 12 wickets in Harare, Rashid has claimed ninth position after moving up four places, Plunkett has gained 14 places and is now in 11th spot, Willey has risen 12 places to 15th and Stanlake's seven wickets have given him a leap of 60 places that has put him in 19th position.

There is no change in the top three all-rounders, with Australian Glenn Maxwell leading the field. Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi is second, while Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is third.

In the ICC T20I team rankings, Pakistan have retained the top position with their tri-series victory while India have overtaken Australia to take second place after clinching their three-match series win against England 2-1.

The top three sides are now separated by ten points, while three points separate fourth-ranked England and seventh-ranked West Indies.

Team rankings remain crucial as Australia and the next nine highest-ranked sides will qualify directly for the 16-team ICC men's world T20 2020 in Australia.

--ANI