India’s dominance of the ICC T20I batting rankings tightened its grip on Wednesday, as captain Shreyas Iyer soared three places to a career-best No. 4 in the latest rankings update, powered by his maiden T20I century in the series opener against West Indies in Lucknow.
Iyer’s 102 not out off just 43 balls was the kind of innings that rewrites a player’s standing overnight. The knock, which set up India’s victory, lifted his rating to 798 points and announced his arrival among the format’s elite — a fitting milestone for a batter who had waited patiently for his moment in the shortest format.
The more striking story, though, is the colour of the rankings board. Ishan Kishan remains at No. 1 and Abhishek Sharma holds No. 2, which means India now occupy three of the top four positions in world T20I batting. It is a remarkable concentration of batting firepower, and a reflection of the depth India have built in the format over the past two years.
The good news did not stop there for the Men in Blue. Tilak Varma climbed to No. 9, giving India four batters inside the top ten. For a team that has long been accused of being slow to embrace T20’s aggressive template, the rankings now read like a vindication of the new approach — fearless, deep, and relentlessly attacking.
Iyer’s personal journey to this point has been anything but straightforward. Once a mainstay of India’s white-ball middle order, he spent periods in and out of the side as selectors experimented with combinations. His appointment as T20I captain marked a turning point, and the Lucknow century — his first in the format — could hardly have been timed better. Scoring at well over two runs a ball, he combined clean striking with calculated risk, the hallmark of a batter entirely sure of his game.
There were notable movements elsewhere in the rankings as well. In the Test charts, Australia’s Matthew Renshaw produced one of the week’s most dramatic climbs, leaping 147 places to joint-49th after twin scores of 190 and 82 against South Africa. His teammate Josh Hazlewood rose to No. 7 among Test bowlers on the back of a career-best 6 for 49, while South Africa’s Aiden Markram re-entered the Test batting top ten.
West Indies, despite their defeat in Lucknow, had something to celebrate too: Roston Chase moved up 24 places to 23rd in the T20I bowling rankings after strong outings against India, underlining that the Caribbean side’s struggles have not been without individual bright spots.
For India, the immediate focus returns to the series against West Indies, with momentum firmly in their favour and a batting order that the rankings now certify as the best in the world. The challenge for Iyer and his teammates will be converting ranking dominance into silverware — but on current evidence, few would bet against them.
