The battle for the top position on the ICC Men's T20I Batter Rankings continues to heat up as Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav maintains his lead with 906 rating points. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam have a chance to close the gap as they hold the second and third positions respectively with 811 and 755 rating points.
The latest rankings, updated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, also saw South African Aiden Markram and New Zealand's Devon Conway take fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Babar and Rizwan missed Pakistan's recent T20I series against Bangladesh, but the upcoming five-game T20I series against New Zealand presents an opportunity for the duo to make inroads on Suryakumar's lead.
The rankings also saw Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis and New Zealand's Tim Seifert make significant gains for their performances in the recently concluded T20I series. Mendis moved up 11 spots to share the 25th position, while Seifert climbed from outside the top 100 to 36th.
In the bowling rankings, Afghanistan's Rashid Khan holds the top spot with teammate Fazalhaq Farooqi in second place. Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana made the biggest gain in the rankings, rising to a career-high rating and sharing the fifth position.
Wanindu Hasaranga, also from Sri Lanka, dropped two places to fourth, while Fazalhaq Farooqi and Australia's Josh Hazlewood rose one place each to second and third, respectively. The rankings suggest a tight race for the top spot in the T20I bowler rankings.