The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the latest T20I batting ranking. Surprisingly, just 7 matches into his comeback to international cricket, Ishan Kishan has entered the top 10.
Ishan Kishan’s quantum leap
The Indian wicketkeeper batter made a significant move in the T20I rankings on January 28. A week before, he was ranked 580. But after 3 innings, he had climbed up to 64. A week later, he made another big jump. This time, he reached 32 after his maiden T20I hundred.
2 weeks later, Kishan’s back in the top 10. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the keeper, who joins Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Suryakumar Yadav among Indian batters ranked high in the ICC rankings.
However, this does raise concerns over ICC’s system. How can a player who wasn’t even in the top 500 and hadn’t played any matches for over 2 years be among the top 10 batters after just 7 innings? This also explains why most in cricket don’t usually bring up ranking as a sign of consistency or greatness, unlike other sports like tennis.
ICC T20I batting ranking (February 18, 2026)
| Rank | Team | Batter | Rating | Career Best Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | India | Abhishek Sharma | 891 | 931 v Sri Lanka at Dubai 2025 |
| 02 | England | Phil Salt | 808 | 881 v West Indies at Barbados 2024 |
| 03 (+3) | Sri Lanka | Pathum Nissanka | 786 | 794 v Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi 2025 |
| 04 (+1) | India | Tilak Varma | 751 | 845 v England at Chennai 2025 |
| 05 (-2) | Pakistan | Sahibzada Farhan | 748 | 782 v Sri Lanka at Dambulla 2026 |
| 06 | India | Suryakumar Yadav | 747 | 912 v New Zealand at Ranchi 2023 |
| 07 (-3) | England | Jos Buttler | 744 | 794 v South Africa at Old Trafford 2025 |
| 08 (+17) | India | Ishan Kishan | 732 | 765 v Ireland at Malahide 2022 |
| 09 (-1) | New Zealand | Tim Seifert | 721 | 740 v United Arab Emirates at Chennai 2026 |
| 10 (-1) | Australia | Travis Head | 695 | 885 v Scotland at Edinburgh 2024 |
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