ICC Women's T20I Rankings: Indian spinner Shree Charani becomes number one ranked bowler
Dubai, June 23
India's young spinner Sree Charani has been rewarded for her blistering start to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup by becoming the number one ranked player on the latest ICC Women's T20I Bowler Rankings.
Charani overtakes England spinner Linsey Smith and claims the premier position for the first time in her fledgling career on the back of being the leading wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup so far, with the left-armer having collected 10 scalps from three appearances at the ongoing tournament, as per ICC.
The 21-year-old only made her international debut a little over 12 months ago, but a second career four-wicket haul against the Netherlands in Leeds, followed by three more wickets in a loss to South Africa in Manchester, proved enough for Charani to take the top ranking from Smith following the latest update made by the ICC.
Smith drops to third following a relatively slow start to the T20 World Cup by her lofty standards, with England teammate and fellow spinner Charlie Dean rising to second after five wickets from three matches at the tournament.
Former top-ranked bowler Sophie Ecclestone is on the rise as she improves four spots to fourth overall for T20I bowlers, while West Indies captain Hayley Matthews (up nine places to 11th), Australia pacer Kim Garth (up 25 rungs to 20th), Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana (up 10 slots to 25th) and Ireland all-rounder Orla Prendergast (up 10 spots to 26th) all make ground in a tight rankings category.
By comparison, it is more of a status quo on the latest rankings for T20I batters, with Australia opener Georgia Voll holding on to her spot at the top of the category despite just 62 runs from three hits at the T20 World Cup.
Teammate Beth Mooney (up one spot to second) is her nearest challenger 47 rating points adrift, while Shafali Verma (up one slot to sixth), Harmanpreet Kaur (up one place to 10th), Sophie Devine (up one rung to 11th), Prendergast (up four places to 13th) and Nigar Sultana Joty (up three positions to 20th) are among the movers on the updated list for T20I batters.
There's also no change at the top of the rankings for T20I all-rounders, with Matthews holding sway at the top of the category from New Zealand counterpart Melie Kerr.
Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu (third), Prendergast (fifth) and Sana (sixth) all make one spot inside the top 10, while South Africa star Marizanne Kapp is rewarded for her Player of the Match heroics against India as she rises five rungs to move to ninth in this category.
— ANI
Reader Comments
This is fantastic news! But I wish our batters were also performing as well. Shafali and Harman need to step up and convert their starts into big scores. The bowling is world class though.
Very proud moment for Indian cricket! Charani is proving that our domestic system is producing good spinners. Let's hope she continues this form in the knockout stages of the World Cup. 🇮🇳
Wonderful news! But I'm a bit concerned about our batting depth. We saw in the match against South Africa that we collapsed under pressure. Need to work on that if we want to win the World Cup.
What a rise! From debut to number one in just over a year. The future of Indian women's cricket looks very bright with talents like Charani, Renuka, and Deepti. More support from BCCI needed for grassroots development.
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