Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur with teammate Shafalim Verma at the end of the game after India beat Sri Lanka during the third T20 International cricket match (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: India opener Shafali Verma once again showed why she is one of the most exciting batsmen in women’s cricket. After a series of strong performances against Sri Lanka, the 21-year-old has moved up to sixth in the latest ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings.Shafali, who was once the world’s No. 1 batsman in T20Is, has jumped four places after scoring consistently in the ongoing series.
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In the second T20I, she played a match-winning knock of 69 off just 34 balls. She followed that up with two more innings of an unbeaten 79, one off 42 balls and the other off 46 balls, in the third and fourth matches in Thiruvananthapuram.Her aggressive batting at the top allowed India to get off to a fast start and put pressure on the Sri Lankan bowlers early in the innings.Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana also had a positive result. After struggling for runs earlier, she returned to form with a smooth 80 in the fourth T20I. Mandhana managed to maintain her third position in the ICC rankings. Meanwhile, middle-order batsman Jemimah Rodrigues has dropped one spot and is now at number 10.In the bowling department, experienced all-rounder Deepti Sharma continues to lead the charts. She remains the world’s No. 1 T20I player. Fellow Indian pacer Renuka Singh Thakur has also made good progress. Renuka climbed eight places to joint sixth after her brilliant spell of four wickets for 21 runs in the third match. Her performance helped India win the match by eight wickets and seal the series.India’s young left-arm spinners have also impressed. Shree Charani moved up 17 places to reach the 52nd position, while Vaishnavi Sharma made a massive jump of 390 places to reach the 124th position. This is Vaishnavi’s first international series and her rise reflects India’s strong strength on the bench as they prepare for the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales.The Sri Lankan players have also seen some improvement. Opener Hasini Perera moved up 114 places to 71st after steady scores of 22, 25 and 33. All-rounder Kavisha Dilhari also climbed three places to reach 79th in the batting rankings.
