Abhishek Sharma is back at No. 1 in the T20I rankings, and 40 runs in Auckland would pass Suryakumar’s 2022 record
Abhishek Sharma’s 113 in Wellington has put him back above an injured Ishan Kishan in the ICC rankings. Both of them are now closing on the Indian record for T20I runs in a calendar year.
Oct 29, 2026
Ishan Kishan took the top spot in the ICC men’s T20I batting rankings from Abhishek Sharma in July. He held it until a low-grade right adductor strain in the first T20I in Christchurch kept him out of the next two games. Abhishek’s 113 off 38 balls in Wellington on Tuesday did the rest, and Wednesday’s update has him back at No. 1.
Abhishek is on 897 rating points. Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan, who has not moved off 883, is second, and Kishan has dropped to third on 866.
From 29 and 27 to 113
The Wellington hundred came after a quiet start to the series. Abhishek made 29 in the first game and 27 in the second, and both were last-over chases at Hagley Oval. In the third T20I he got to three figures in 35 balls, put on 133 for the first wicket with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and India knocked off 199 in 13.2 overs to go 3-0 up with two to play.
He first reached No. 1 in July 2025, when Travis Head slipped below him. His peak of 931 points came during the Asia Cup later that year, the highest rating any batter has had in T20Is. Dawid Malan’s 919 from 2020 was the old mark.
Two Indians chasing Suryakumar
The rankings are not the only thing these two are fighting over. Suryakumar Yadav made 1,164 T20I runs in 2022, the most by an Indian in a calendar year. Kishan has 1,159 from 35 games in 2026, five short. Abhishek’s Wellington innings took him to 1,125 from 37, which means 40 more in Auckland on Friday would put him past it.
Kishan would need six, but he has to get on the park first. The BCCI has not said anything about his fitness since he was ruled out of the third game, and if he does come back, someone in a top order that has just chased 199 inside 14 overs has to make way. Sooryavanshi made 45 off 19 in Wellington.
Jadeja loses his place at the top
The bigger change was in Test cricket. Marco Jansen is the new No. 1 Test bowler on 876 points after ten wickets in the first two Tests against Australia, including 5 for 33 in Gqeberha, where Australia were bowled out for 99. Mitchell Starc, Matt Henry, Ollie Robinson and Jasprit Bumrah all slipped a place.
Jansen, who also made 85 with the bat in that game, went past Ravindra Jadeja to top the Test all-rounder list as well. Jadeja had been No. 1 on that table for more than four years and is now second.
The fourth T20I starts at 12:30pm IST on Friday at Eden Park, and the series finishes at Seddon Park in Hamilton on 1 November.