ICC T20 rankings: Kohli retains No. 1 spot, Ashwin climbs to 4th position

Dubai: India's star batsman Virat Kohli has maintained his number one position in the ICC T20 batsmen rankings, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned to the top five in the bowlers' list, climbing up to fourth spot from seventh. Meanwhile, KL Rahul has moved up as many as 67 places to be at 31st spot, riding on his unbeaten century during the two-match series against the West Indies in Lauderhill, USA. The first match of the T20 series, in which a T20I record aggregate of 489 runs were scored, saw Rahul scoring an unbeaten 110 in India's reply of 244 for four to West Indies' 245 for six. With the second match of the series being called off due to wet conditions, West Indies won the two-T20 series 1-0 on the basis of their thrilling one-run win in the opening game and that helped the Caribbean side narrow the gap with India in the team rankings. Two-time ICC World Twenty20 champion West Indies, which was six points behind second-placed India's 128 points before the series, is now just one point adrift at 125 with India on 126. New Zealand lead the table with 132 points. West Indies' Evin Lewis' 49-ball 100 in the first T20 has helped him move up 288 slots to reach 51st position. Meanwhile, India's Rohit Sharma has moved up five places to reach 17th following knocks of 62 and 10 not out. In the bowlers' ranking, Ashwin, who enjoyed a career-high rank of second in February and March this year, grabbed two for 11 in the second match to earn three places and be back in top five. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (67th) and Mohammad Shami (82nd) were the others to move up the bowlers' rankings for India. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, playing his first match since the ICC World Twenty20 in 2014, has re-entered the rankings at 104th position with three for 24 in the second match.