India cricket team batter Ishan Kishan has replaced teammate Abhishek Sharma as the new No. 1 T20I batter in the ICC rankings. Kishan returned to the Indian T20I team earlier this year after a long break, following his successful 2025/26 domestic season in which he led Jharkhand to their first-ever Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.
He reached the top of the rankings after an outstanding performance in the 2026 T20 World Cup, while Abhishek Sharma had a comparatively quiet tournament. Despite scoring just 1 and 12 runs in the IND vs IRE T20I series, Kishan managed to pip Abhishek to climb to the top of the T20I rankings.
While Abhishek Sharma managed scores of 49 and 0 in the two matches, Ishan Kishan enjoyed a sensational T20 World Cup, scoring 317 runs at a strike rate of nearly 200. His campaign included a Player of the Match-winning knock against arch-rivals Pakistan in Colombo.
Ishan Kishan becomes World No. 1 in T20I rankings
Kishan now tops the ICC T20I batting rankings with 876 rating points, moving ahead of Abhishek, who has 869. The other Indians in the top 10 are Tilak Varma in fifth place and Suryakumar Yadav in eighth. Overall in 2026, Kishan has played 15 T20Is in which he has amassed 545 runs with a highest score of 103, averaging 36.33 and a strike rate of 199.63, and has scored 4 fifties and 1 hundred.
Following impressive performance in the IPL 2026, he retained his spot in India’s T20I squad for the series against Ireland and England, and is trusted to carry out his role as the number 3 batter effectively. On the other hand, Sharma had a poor outing at the T20 World Cup, and scored just two notable knocks, against ZIM in the Super 8 tie and in the final. He had a good IPL season but failed to fire against Ireland.
Meanwhile, Varun Chakravarthy, who missed the T20I series against Ireland, has dropped one place to third in the ICC T20I bowling rankings. Jasprit Bumrah has also slipped to sixth after being rested for the Ireland series, moving out of the top five. In the rankings for the all-rounders, Hardik Pandya retains his place at number 2 while Shivam Dube has moved three places to the 7th position after picking up 3 wickets and scoring 45 runs in the series against Ireland.