India star all-rounder Deepti Sharma has etched her name into the record books by becoming the World No.1 T20I bowler for the first time in her career.
The historic rise comes after her impressive performance in the opening T20 International against Sri Lanka, played at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, December 21.
Deepti dethroned Australia fast bowler Annabel Sutherland to claim the top spot in the latest ICC Women’s T20I bowling rankings.
The Indian all-rounder now sits at the summit with 737 rating points, holding a narrow one-point lead over the Australian pacer, highlighting the closely fought battle at the top of women’s cricket rankings.
Match-Winning Spell Against Sri Lanka
Deepti’s ascent was powered by a disciplined and economical spell in India’s dominant eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
Bowling with her trademark control, she conceded just 20 runs in her four overs and picked up the crucial wicket of Sri Lanka’s No.3 batter Hasini Perera.
While the figures may appear modest on paper, her accuracy through the middle overs played a key role in building pressure and restricting the opposition.
The performance earned Deepti five valuable rating points, enough to push her past Sutherland, who had held the No.1 position since August. At 28 years of age, Deepti’s achievement marks a significant milestone in a career defined by consistency across formats.
Rankings Shuffle Across Formats
The latest ICC rankings update also witnessed notable movement in the ODI and T20I batting charts. Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana slipped to second place in the ODI batting rankings, with South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt reclaiming the top spot.
Wolvaardt’s return to No.1 was driven by back-to-back centuries in South Africa’s 3-0 ODI series sweep against Ireland, which also saw her achieve a career-best rating.
India had more positives in the T20I rankings, with Arundhati Reddy climbing five places to 36th among bowlers following her performance against Sri Lanka.
Jemimah Rodrigues emerged as one of the biggest movers, jumping five spots to ninth in the T20I batting rankings after scoring an unbeaten half-century and winning Player of the Match honours. She now joins Mandhana (third) and Shafali Verma (10th) inside the top 10.
