Days after bowling the final over that led to India lifting the ICC T20 World Cup trophy again after 17 years, Hardik Pandya has become the world's top-ranked all-rounder in the latest International Cricket Council rankings. Pandya is the first-ever Indian to occupy the number one all-rounder spot in T20 internationals. (Full T20 WC Coverage | More Cricket News)
The 30-year-old from Choryasi, Gujarat jumped two places in the rankings to join Sri Lanka skipper Wanindu Hasaranga at the top. Both Pandya and Hasaranga have 222 rating points and are followed by Marcus Stoinis (211 points) in the third spot.
Pandya performed extremely well at ICC T20 World Cup 2024, scoring 144 runs at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151, and picking up 11 wickets at an average of 17.36. He returned figures of 3 for 20 in the final against South Africa, and conceded just eight runs in the last over to help India win by seven runs and claim the trophy for the second time.
Meanwhile, the all-rounder rankings surprisingly feature Virat Kohli ahead of Ravindra Jadeja. Kohli jumped six places to be ranked 79th, while Ravindra Jadeja is in the 86th spot. Both Kohli and Jadeja retired from T20Is after India's final victory.
Batting mainstay Kohli has a grand total of four wickets in 13 T20I innings at an average of 51.00 and an economy rate of 8.0, while Jadeja picked up 54 wickets in 71 innings at an average of around 30.
But it is the batting numbers that propelled Kohli ahead of Jadeja. As against Kohli's 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69, Jadeja aggregated just 515 runs at an average of 21.45.
The triumphant Indian team has returned to the country from Barbados, and after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, is set to embark on a victory parade in Mumbai from Marine Drive to Wankhede Stadium.
