The competition for the No. 1 spot in the ICC T20I rankings has been very intriguing over the past couple of weeks, as Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and India’s Suryakumar Yadav have put up some tremendous performances for their respective teams.
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Last month, Rizwan surpassed his team’s skipper Babar Azam to take up the top spot, and Suryakumar Yadav’s performances against Australia and South Africa saw him inching closer to the top spot.
Both in terms of spots and rating tally to now stand inches away from dethroning the Pakistan opener. On Thursday, Rizwan opened up on his battle with Suryakumar for the No.1 spot.
“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,” he said.
“Ha kabhi pitches aisa milta hain ki 60 balls pe 40 karna padta he but wohi Pakistan ka demand tha. Pichle saal Bangladesh series main bhi wohi tha, UAE me chale jae toh 145 banana mushkil he,” he added.
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In the latest ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings, Rizwan continues to lead the table with 854 rating points, and the second-ranked Suryakumar (838 rating points) is chasing the Pakistani with great speed, as he is trailing by just 16 rating points.
