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Kohli overtakes Finch into No.1 T20 ranking

Virat Kohli rises to the top of the Twenty20 batting ranks after Finch loses points due to missed match

India batsman Virat Kohli is the unlikely beneficiary of Aaron Finch’s horror run of injuries, claiming the big-hitting Australian’s place at the top of the ICC’s official T20 batting rankings.

Kohli – who has not played a T20 international since September last year - was unveiled as the world’s current top-ranked T20 batsman after Australia’s five-run loss to England on Monday, which Finch missed due to injury.

Under the ICC rankings system, players lose points for any match they miss, regardless of whether their absence is the result of injury, form or suspension.

Quick single: Finch says fitness to blame for Australia omission

As such, Finch was docked 17 points for missing the Cardiff T20, seeing him drop to 854 points and second position behind Kohli who has 861 ratings points.

Kohli, who missed India’s most recent two-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in July, last played in their loss to England last September, where he scored 66 off 41.

Finch‘s run of injuries started when the 28-year-old underwent surgery on his hamstring in April after snapping the tendon in his left leg, and most recently, the batsman had to overcome a fractured foot sustained while playing a T20 match in July.

He has now returned to county duties for Yorkshire, but is not part of Australia’s squad for the limited overs series in England.

His next opportunity to improve his T20 rank will come against in January, when he takes on Kohli's India in a three-match series.

Quick single: Finch plots path to Twenty20 glory

Steve Smith, who filled in for Finch as Australia’s T20 skipper at Cardiff, and England captain Eoin Morgan were the big movers after their powerful displays on Monday.

Smith’s 53-ball 90, which included seven fours and four sixes, has helped him rocket 62 places to 96th,while Morgan rose six places to eighth after blasting three fours and seven sixes in a 39-ball 74.

Watch: Smith stars for Australia (restrictions apply)

England’s Moeen Ali, meanwhile, has achieved a career-high 77th spot after his 46-ball 72, which vaulted him 79 places.

In the bowling table, Pat Cummins rose 11 places to 14th spot after his 2-15, while Glenn Maxwell shifted up three places to 29th.

Australia’s top-ranked T20 bowler is Mitchell Starc at No.5, while the bowlers’ list is headed by Brisbane Heat recruit Samuel Badree of the West Indies.

Australia dropped one place to third in the T20 team rankings after Monday’s loss, with Pakistan rising to second place, six points behind ICC World Twenty20 champion Sri Lanka.

England remain in eighth spot on the table.

Top 10 T20 batsman


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Top 10 T20 bowlers

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