Virat Kohli stays firmly on top of latest ICC T20I rankings

Dubai [UAE], Sept 28 (ANI): India star batsman Virat Kohli remained on top of the latest ICC T20I rankings, leading Australia's Aaron Finch by a huge margin of 49 points. Only major changes outside the top 20 include Johnson Charles and Shoaib Malik who have moved in opposite directions after Pakistan claimed a 3-0 whitewash in the T20 series in Abu Dhabi. Charles has slipped three places to 26th, while Shoaib has gained 10 spots and is now is 35th position following his contribution of 80 runs. Series top-scorer Babar Azam (101 runs) has leaped 201 places to 66th, while Khalid Latif, who scored 95 runs, has jumped 26 places to break inside the top 100 for the first time in 94th position. As far as bowlers are concerned, Pakistan's left-arm spinner Imad Wasim has rocketed into the top five of the ICC player rankings after a stellar series against the West Indies. Imad was the leading wicket-taker in the series with nine wickets at an economy-rate of under 4.5 per over, which not only earned him the player of the series award but also provided him a jump of 33 places in the latest rankings. Imad is now in fourth position, which not only makes him Pakistan's highest-ranked bowler but just five points behind the West Indies' Samuel Badree, who has dropped two places to third. Badree's slip means South Africa's Imran Tahir has become the No.1 ranked bowler in T20Is. This is along with the fifth position he holds in One-Day Internationals and 38th rank he occupies in Test cricket. Pakistan's Sohail Tanvir is the other bowler to make an upward movement. He is now in 36th position after rising 19 places following his five wickets in the series. Meanwhile, Pakistan has stayed in seventh position with 111 points on the ICC T20I team rankings, the West Indies has dropped one place to fourth. New Zealand is the number-one ranked T20I side, followed by India and South Africa. (ANI)