India’s Shafali Verma climbed two places to fourth in the latest ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings on Tuesday after a prolific run across the Asia Cup and Asian Games.
Shafali moved ahead of compatriot Smriti Mandhana and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews to reach 756 rating points. Australia’s Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt retained the top three positions.
The 22-year-old carried her strong form from the Women’s T20 Asia Cup into the Asian Games, producing a series of impactful knocks. She scored 64 and 68 in the semifinal and final of the Asia Cup before continuing her run in Nagoya.
At the Asian Games, Shafali remained unbeaten on 40 against Japan in the quarterfinal before producing a landmark performance against Bangladesh. Her unbeaten 100 from 49 balls in the semifinal was her first international white-ball century and made her the first woman to score a century at the Asian Games.
She followed that with 48 in the final against Sri Lanka, helping India make a fast start alongside Mandhana. India went on to win the final by 147 runs and retain the women’s cricket gold medal.
The latest rankings also highlighted India’s dominance in the T20I bowling charts. Deepti Sharma and N Shree Charani continued to occupy the top two places, with both reaching career-best rating points. Charani jumped 15 places, while Deepti made a significant 22-place rise following their performances at the continental event.
India’s Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma also climbed the rankings, moving to 57th and 72nd respectively.
Pakistan’s Shawaal Zulfiqar made a 16-place jump to 29th with 558 rating points, while teammate Ayesha Zafar surged 31 spots to 40th after registering 71 against Sri Lanka. Zafar also moved up nine places to 30th among T20I all-rounders.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana advanced five places to 24th in the bowling rankings, while Thailand’s Onnicha Kamchomphu rose six spots to share 63rd after claiming three wickets against Pakistan.
South Africa’s 5-0 T20I series sweep against Zimbabwe also resulted in several ranking movements. Anneke Bosch, the series’ leading run-scorer, climbed eight places to 46th, while Miane Smit moved to a career-best joint 53rd.
Zimbabwe’s Nyasha Gwanzura gained 28 places to reach 87th among bowlers, while South Africa’s Annerie Dercksen climbed to 22nd in the all-rounder rankings after reaching a career-best rating of 179.
India’s Asian Games triumph was powered by Mandhana’s 79 off 45 balls and Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 49 from 22 deliveries, which helped the side post 216/3. India then bowled Sri Lanka out for 69 in 15.4 overs, with Deepti taking 3/6 and Shafali and Shreyanka Patil claiming two wickets each.
