New Delhi: ICC T20I Rankings top spot has got a lot of competition in the past few months. Pakistan captain Babar Azam dominated the top spot for over 100 days and then his teammate Mohammad Rizwan took over the throne. While the two Pakistani batsmen were enjoying the spot amongst themselves, there came a threat from Suryakumar Yadav for the top spot.
Indian player is currently no. 2 in the T20I world rankings and just a few points away to get to the top.
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Mohammad Rizwan says that your position in team makes difference
Rizwan also opened up on the race to top T20I ranking where he highlighted the difference between him and Yadav.
He had said, “Good player hain Suryakumar Yadav. Jis tarah se woh khelte hain, mujhe bohot pasand he. Magar jaha tak cheezen he and different tarike se dekha jae kyunki middle order and top order mukhtalif cheezen hain. Kabhi No.1 ke liye socha nahi hain jo demand he Pakistan ki woh pura karne ki koshish kar raha hu. No.1 or Man of the Match, aise kuch cheeze hain jo negative main le jati hain. Par main sochta nehi hu.”
Azam expressed his views and admitted that while the rankings are a major boost for a cricketer on an individual level, getting the top spot is like a dream for most batsmen but the focus remains on winning the matches for the team.
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Pakistan Captain Babar Azam shares his opinion
While addressing the press after Pakistan’s win against Bangladesh in the New Zealand tri-series in Christchurch, Azam said, “dekhiye main as an individual baat nehin kar sakta, aur baat karna bhi nehin chahiye kyunki team first. Koshish yehi rehti hain ki team ko pehle jitaya jae. Ranking aapko always confidence deti hain. Aap jab top main aate hain woh ek dream hota hain aur jab woh aap achieve karte hain toh woh ek relief milta hain.”
Currently, Rizwan stands atop with 853 points, followed by Yadav, with 838 points, and then Azam at No.3 with 808 points. Yadav could have surpassed Rizwan but he couldn’t make runs against South Africa in the last match of their series which made him sit in the second position. However, he can get into the top spot if he shows his magic in the T20I World Cup.
