New Delhi: Being highest run-getter in eight T20I matches India played in 2022, not only did Ishan Kishan become the highest-ranking Indian player in the shortest format but he galloped into top 10 of the ICC T20I rankings. The Left-handed opener amassed 340 runs in eight innings played in 2022.
He jumped 68 places to secure seventh spot and he is the lone Indian batter to have entered the top 10 list, with Pakistan's Babar Azam atop the rankings. Ishan was at 76th place in the previous T20I rankings released by ICC. In his T20I career so far which started last year, Ishan played 13 matches and scored 453 runs. After 13 T20 matches, Ishan becomes only third-highest run-getter after KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.
Of the eight matches played so far this year, in three innings the Indian southpaw scored three 50-plus runs. Ishan scored his best of 89 runs against Sri Lanka in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Lucknow on February 24. The 23-year-old opener fired India to a 62-run win after the Men in Blue set up a mammoth target of 200 for visitors.
Also read | ICC Test Rankings: Joe Root Overtakes Labuschagne To Reclaim Top Spot, Kohli Slips To No. 10
In another encounter earlier in May in the first T20I against South Africa, he scored 76 runs but with not much support from the bowling department, India lost the match by seven wickets and again his tremendous innings with the bat on Tuesday helped India win by 48 runs against South Africa in a crucial match. The Patna-born scored a 35-ball 54 and built a good opening partnership along with Ruturaj Gaikwad. Besides, a few other crucial innings helped Ishan seal a top-10 spot in ICC T20I rankings.
Meanwhile, no Indian could make it to the top 10 in bowling and all-rounder rankings list.