India's Virat Kohli bats during the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday. (AP | PTI)Star India batter Virat Kohli stormed his way back into the top 10 T20I batting chart, climbing up five spots to ninth position in the latest rankings issued on Wednesday.
Kohli has been rewarded for his heroics against Pakistan in India’s T20 World Cup opener against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Sunday. Kohli smashed an unbeaten 82 to guide India to a memorable last-ball victory, the knock catapulting the former India captain into the top 10 of T20I batters list.
The 33-year-old hit six fours and four sixes during his glorious innings. Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (849 rating points) continues to occupy the top spot, with New Zealand opener Devon Conway (831) rising three places to replace Suryakumar Yadav from the second position.
Conway hit a 58-ball unbeaten 92 to help New Zealand thrash defending champions Australia by 89 runs in their opener. With 828 rating points in his kitty, Suryakumar dropped to the third spot but was ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (799) and South Africa’s Aiden Markram (762).
New Zealand’s Finn Allen also moved up, courtesy his swashbuckling 16-ball 42-run knock against Australia, which helped him to rise a whopping 17 places to the 13th position.