ASIAN GAMES EXCELLENCE REWARDED IN LATEST ICC WOMEN’S T20I PLAYER RANKINGS

• Shafali Verma rises to the top four after maiden T20I century as Pakistan and South Africa players also make significant gains

India’s Shafali Verma has climbed two places to fourth in the ICC Women’s T20I Batting Rankings after her maiden T20I century at the women’s competition of the Asian Games, while players from Pakistan and South Africa have also made significant gains in the latest update. 

Verma’s unbeaten 100 against Bangladesh in the semi-final at Nisshin came after she had earlier scored an unbeaten 40 in India’s victory over Japan, helping her side reach the final. 

It was a good week for Pakistan’s batters, with Shawaal Zulfiqar moving up 16 places to 29th, reaching a career-best 558 rating points, breaking into the top 30 for the first time. She scored 25 in Pakistan’s quarter-final against Indonesia before following it up with 54 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka. 

Her teammate Ayesha Zafar has also broken into the top 40, climbing 31 slots to 40th after scoring 71 in the same match against Sri Lanka. Zafar has reached a career-best 489 points and has also moved up nine places to 30th in the Women’s T20I All-Rounders’ Rankings. 

In the latest update that considers performances until Monday, Indian players continue to occupy the top two positions in the ICC Women’s T20I Bowling Rankings, with Shree Charani (799 rating points) at number one and Deepti Sharma 70 rating points behind her at number two. 

There have also been significant gains for their teammates, with Kranti Gaud moving up 15 places to 57th and Nandani Sharma climbing 22 places to 72nd. Both have reached career-best rating points – 461 and 432 respectively – following their performances at the Asian Games. 

Pakistan’s Sadia Iqbal has moved up one place to eighth in the Bowling Rankings, with skipper Fatima Sana advancing five places to 24th.  Bangladesh’s Sanjida Akter Meghla has progressed five places to joint-49th, with Thailand’s Onnicha Kamchomphu leaping six spots to joint-63rd after taking three wickets against Pakistan. 

Elsewhere, South Africa completed a 5-0 T20I series sweep over Zimbabwe, with several of their players rewarded with notable gains. 

Miane Smit has made one of the biggest moves of the week, surging 63 places to a career-best joint-53rd in the Batting Rankings after scoring a century in the fourth match of the series. 

Anneke Bosch was named Player of the Series after scoring 214 runs across the five matches and has climbed a further eight places to 46th. She was the leading run-scorer in the series and has now broken into the top 50. 

Zimbabwe’s Nyasha Gwanzura provided one of the positives for her side during the series, recording the team’s best economy rate of 7.41 while taking four wickets. 

Her performances have seen her move 28 places to 87th in the T20I Bowling Rankings, breaking into the top 100 for the first time. 

To know more about the ICC Rankings, please click here.