Ravi Bishnoi is the new No. 1 bowler in T20I cricket, on the back of his Player-of-the-Series show against Australia. He had claimed nine wickets in five games in that series at 18.22. That capped a meteoric rise in T20I cricket for the 23-year-old legspinner: since debuting in February 2022, he has 34 T20I wickets at 17.38, with a strike rate of 14.5 and an economy just over 7.
Bishnoi displaces Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan at the top, and also pushes Wanindu Hasaranga, Adil Rashid and Maheesh Theekshana down a spot to complete the all-spin top five. There were no other significant changes in the rankings.
In the series against Australia, India gave Bishnoi a fair amount of bowling the powerplay, and it paid off – both in terms of wickets and controlling runs. They will hope Bishnoi, who bowls more googlies than legbreaks, can keep his form going as they prepare for the T20 World Cup which will be played in the West Indies – where spinners can come in particularly handy – and the USA in June next year. India have only six T20Is scheduled from now till that showpiece event, so there’s not much room for experimentation, but they will take confidence from the 4-1 result over Australia.