Hardik Pandya Reaches ICC T20I Ranking Pinnacle, First Indian All-Rounder Ever To Do So

Hardik Pandya rose two places to go level with Sri Lankan star Wanindu Hasaranga as the top-ranked men’s T20I all-rounder on Wednesday, as per the ICC official website. The all-rounder, who made a big contribution in the final with the crucial wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, had a good tournament with bat and ball and became the first Indian man to reach No.1 in the category. Hardik Pandya made impactful cameos down the order with the bat and made breakthroughs with the ball when the team needed him to. He finished with 144 runs at a batting strike rate of over 150 and also took 11 wickets.His most important performance, though, came in the final when his decisive blow – the wicket of Klaasen – with South Africa on top of the game swung the contest. Hardik went on to bowl the tense final over and defended 16 runs to help India win the T20 World Cup title.There were other movements in the top 10 of the T20I all-rounder rankings, with Marcus Stoinis, Sikandar Raza, Shakib Al Hasan and Liam Livingstone rising up by one spot. Mohammad Nabi moved back by four spots to go out of the top five.