Pakistan spinner regains No.1 ranking for T20I bowlers

Pakistan spinner Sadia Iqbal has regained her place as the No.1 T20I bowler in the world by making big gains on the latest ICC Women's Player Rankings.

Iqbal overtakes Australia seamer Annabel Sutherland and India spinner Deepti Sharma to move back to the top spot on the back of some excellent performances for Pakistan in their recent three-game T20I series against South Africa.

The left-armer finished as the joint leading wicket taker across the series with five wickets, with her spell of 3/18 in the series finale in Benoni proving enough to move her up two places and back to the No.1 position.

Iqbal first held the premier spot for T20I bowlers towards the end of 2024 and also enjoyed further time at the top last year, before Sutherland once again re-claimed the No.1 position last month.

There is further joy on the rankings for Pakistan, with experienced captain Fatima Sana rising 31 places to equal 28th on the list for T20I batters and five spots to sixth for T20I all-rounders.

This comes on the back of a Player of the Match performance in the series finale against the Proteas where Fatima scored an unbeaten 47 from just 30 deliveries and chipped in with a pair of valuable wickets as Pakistan clinched the victory.

One of those wickets was the prized scalp of Laura Wolvaardt, though the South Africa captain will at least be buoyed by gaining one place to move up to fourth overall on the list for T20I batters.

There are also gains for a trio of Indian bowlers following the opening game of their T20I series in Australia, with Renuka Singh (up six places to fifth), Arundhati Reddy (up 19 rungs to equal 16th) and Shree Charani (up eight spots to 39th) all progressing up the list following decent hauls during the rain affected contest in Sydney.