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Australia's Josh Hazlewood rises to No. 2 in men's T20I bowlers' rankings

Josh Hazlewood celebrates a wicket Getty Images

Australia quick Josh Hazlewood has risen to second spot in the latest ICC rankings for T20I bowlers released on Wednesday. Sri Lanka spin-bowling allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga, who was the top-ranked bowler last week, slipped to third spot leaving Tabraiz Shamsi to reclaim the No. 1 position.

Hazlewood registered his best figures in T20Is when he returned four wickets for just 12 runs in the first match against Sri Lanka, which Australia won by 20 runs via DLS method. In the following match, he picked three more before giving away just five in the Super Over to seal yet another victory. Australia have won the five-match series with Hazlewood leading the wicket-taking charts with eight scalps.

Hasaranga, on the other hand, picked up five wickets in the first two games but then tested positive for Covid-19 and is likely out of the tour as well.

The batting charts continue to be led by Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, while Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi sits atop the allrounder rankings in T20Is.

Meanwhile, performances in the Quadrangular T20I series in Oman saw Rohan Mustafa of UAE break into the top ten of the men's allrounders' rankings. He is at No. 7 after scoring 122 runs, the most for UAE, in three games and also picked three wickets. Nepal's Dipendra Singh Airee, who finished as the leading run-scorer in the competition with 142, gained 63 places to be placed 53 in the rankings for batters.