Team India opener Abhishek Sharma has notched up scores of 82 and 39 in the first two T20I matches against Afghanistan in the three-match series.
Published: September 16, 2026, 2:18 PM IST
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Abhishek Sharma (left) and Ishan Kishan(Photo: IANS)
India vs Afghansitan 2026 2nd T20: Former world No1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma has finally found some consistent form with the bat after beginning the 2026 season disastrouslyTeam India opener has notched up scores of 82 and 39 in the first two T20I matches against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi to help his side take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Abhishek Sharma’s fireworks means that Team India batters are now occupying the top two positions in the ICC T20I rankings released on WednesdayThe Sunrisers Hyderabad opener has surpassed Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan to jump to 2nd position before his teammate Ishan Kishan.
He now has 862 points as compared to Farhan’s 848 points, who has slipped to 3rd place in the latest rankingsTeam India and SRH wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan continues to hold on to his No1 rank with 913 points with scores of 42 not out and 38 not out in India’s two seven-wicket wins over Afghanistan in the first two match.
Some big movers across all formats following the latest update to the ICC Player Rankings https://t.co/w0lu948g49
— ICC (@ICC) September 16, 2026
Ishan Kishan remains ahead of Abhishek on the updated rankings with the India duo separated by 51 rating points, while teammate Sanju Samson is another player to make ground this week after he rose four places to 30th on the back of his fine half-century in the second match of the seriesSamson smashed 57 in 22 balls with 4 sixes in second T20I match on Tuesday.
Injured Varun Chakravarthy moves up
There was more good news for Shreyas Iyer’s Team IndiaOff-spinner Varun Chakravarthy played in only one game before picking up a side strain and getting ruled out of the series.
But Varun Chakaravarthy claimed 1 for 16 in his 4 overs in the first T20I on Sunday to rise up two places to fifthPacer Jasprit Bumrah also jumped up seven placed to enter the top 10 while in-form pacer Arshdeep Singh jumped up 11 places to 14th and all-rounder Axar Patel moved up six spots to 27th.
There are gains for a trio of Australian players following their 59-run victory over Zimbabwe in their series opener in Harare, with pacer Nathan Ellis among the movers as he improves 20 spots to jump to 20th on the list for ODI bowlers following his five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in the first ODI on Tuesday.
His teammate Matthew Renshaw, who won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his superb innings of 109 went from outside the top 100 to 68th on the list for ODI battersThere are also gains on the rankings for ODI batters for Cooper Connolly (up nine spots to 77th) after the youngster contributed 51 coming in at No.3 in that fixture with Zimbabwe.
In the Test Rankings, there is a new career-high rating for England pacer Ollie Robinson, who rose two spots to move to third overall on the list for Test bowlers following his 21 scalps across the recent three Test series against Pakistan on home soil.
England teammate Josh Tongue (up two rungs to 11th) also achieves a new career-best rating for his 19 wickets across the series, while Robinson’s timely half-century during the third Test in Birmingham saw the 32-year-old rise seven spots to 13th for Test all-rounders.
There was some joy for Pakistan on the updated list for Test batters as skipper Babar Azam (up two spots to 13th) and left-hander Shan Masood (up four slots to 37th) made some ground, while England keeper Jamie Smith (up three rungs to 20th) was rewarded for his half-century in the first innings of the third Test.
