Suryakumar, Babar and Rizwan in three-way horserace for ICC T20I batting rankings

Surya looked in sublime touch against HK [PC: Twitter]

The collision course for a spot in the Asia Cup 2022 final is now a four-way traffic. Each and any of the four competing sides can now make it into top two, especially after group stage table-toppers India and Afghanistan had to suffer shock final-over defeats to Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively.

SKY in batting race with Pakistan openers amidst T20 Asian warfare

As per the ICC rankings, the top three ranked T20I batters are all Asia Cup 2022 contenders. The elite batting list is currently topped by Pakistan captain Babar Azam while his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan closely follows him at number two.

Interestingly, India’s Suryakumar Yadav has been making some rapid gains ever since he embarked on his international journey last year. The cricketer has fast-tracked himself onto number three in the rankings, as he continues to diminish the gap between him and the number one spot.

The ICC will likely update its T20I batting charts this Wednesday, September 7. While Babar Azam has held on to his number one rank for a notable period, the batting maverick might well lose the throne to either his opening partner or to the Indian run-machine.

Azam has managed just 33 runs across his three Asia Cup 2022 outings so far. On the other hand, Rizwan is fresh from striking two back-to-back match-winning 70s, one against Hong Kong and another against arch-rivals India.

As for Suryakumar Yadav, India’s middle-order mainstay clubbed a six-laden 26-ball 68* against Hong Kong last week. He also compiled an imperial 117 in Nottingham against England a couple of months ago.

Also Read: 'Hard to understand'- Sunil Gavaskar on Dinesh Karthik's snub against Pakistan