Dubai, September 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India opener Shafali Verma has climbed to fourth in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Batting Rankings following a strong campaign at the Asian Games, while players from India, Pakistan and South Africa also made significant gains.
Shafali’s rise came after she smashed her maiden T20I century, scoring an unbeaten 100 against Bangladesh in the Asian Games semifinal at Nisshin. Earlier, she contributed an unbeaten 40 against Japan as India progressed to the final.
The Indian opener is now among the top four batters in the format, strengthening her position near the top of the rankings with her performances in the Asian Games.
Pakistan also saw several batters make notable progress. Shawaal Zulfiqar climbed 16 places to 29th, entering the top 30 for the first time with a career-best rating of 558. She scored 25 against Indonesia in the quarterfinal before making 54 against Sri Lanka in the semifinal.
Her teammate Ayesha Zafar made an even bigger jump, rising 31 places to 40th after scoring 71 against Sri Lanka. Her rating of 489 is also a career best. Zafar climbed nine places to 30th in the T20I all-rounder rankings.
India continue to occupy the top two spots in the T20I bowling rankings, with Sree Charani retaining the No. 1 position on 799 rating points. Deepti Sharma remains second, 70 points behind her teammate.
Among India’s other bowlers, Kranti Gaud rose 15 places to 57th, while Nandani Sharma moved up 22 places to 72nd. Both recorded career-best ratings, with Gaud on 461 points and Nandani on 432.
Pakistan’s Sadia Iqbal moved up one place to eighth, while captain Fatima Sana climbed five spots to 24th. Bangladesh’s Sanjida Akter Meghla rose five places to joint-49th, while Thailand’s Onnicha Kamchomphu advanced six places to joint-63rd after taking three wickets against Pakistan.
South African players also made significant gains following their comprehensive 5-0 T20I series sweep against Zimbabwe.
Miane Smit was among the biggest movers, surging 63 places to a career-best joint-53rd in the batting rankings after scoring a century in the fourth match of the series.
Anneke Bosch, the leading run-scorer in the series with 214 runs, climbed eight places to 46th and entered the top 50. Annerie Dercksen also recorded a career-best 179 rating points in the all-rounder rankings, moving to 22nd.
Zimbabwe’s Nyasha Gwanzura was among the positives for her team despite the series defeat. After taking four wickets and registering the team’s best economy rate of 7.41, she rose 28 places to 87th in the bowling rankings, entering the top 100 for the first time.
The latest ICC rankings, which take performances through Monday into account, reflect the impact of the Asian Games and South Africa’s dominant series against Zimbabwe, with several players rewarded for standout performances.
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