(ESPNcricinfo) New Zealand’s Colin Munro and Ish Sodhi have vaulted to the top of ICC T20I rankings for batsmen and bowlers respectively, while the team regained its No. 1 position as well following the recent 2-0 drubbing of West Indies.
Munro, who finished as the top-scorer in the series with 223 runs – which gave him 137 points – jumped 11 places to top the rankings for the first time in his career. “It’s a bit of a surprise but one that I think anybody would take,” he said. “It’s been a bit of a goal of mine to get up the rankings and to get to the top is pretty special.”
Munro’s assault included back-to-back half-centuries and a 53-ball 104, which made him the first batsman to hit three hundreds in T20 internationals. He leapfrogged team-mates Kane Williamson, who has slipped two places to seventh, and Martin Guptill, who moved to the 11th place, and become the third New Zealand batsman to occupy the No. 1 position after Guptil and Brendon McCullum.
Sodhi, who also achieved the milestone of topping the rankings for the first time, moved from 10th to first after he took three wickets at 18. The 25-year old wristspinner earned 70 points for his efforts in the series, has 729 in all, and is seven points ahead of Pakistan’s Imad Wasim. Sodhi is also the third New Zealand bowler after Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond to rise to the top.
“I’m really grateful for the success I’ve had and I’m stoked to be ranked number-one,” Sodhi said. “It hasn’t really sunk in just yet, but I’m sure it will as the days progress. I’ve been trying to find a really good balance between attacking and defending, and I think it’s getting better and better the more I play.”
“I played club cricket with Colin when I was about 15-years-old and he handed me my first premier cricket cap. So, I’m stoked to see him doing what he is doing at the highest level.”
Munro and Sodhi are also the second New Zealand pair to simultaneously top the T20I batting and bowling tables after McCullum and Vettori between 2009 and 2010. Other New Zealand players to have improved their rankings following the series were Mitchell Santner who rose to sixth position among the bowlers, while Trent Boult has claimed the 13th spot.
