Premier Indian white-ball spinner Varun Chakravarthy has added another feather to his cap after the release of the latest ICC Rankings today (December 17). Varun, who is currently the leading wicket-taker in the IND vs SA T20I series with six scalps from three games, attained his career best rating points of 818.
In the process, the mystery spinner surpassed talismanic pacer and fellow countryman Jasprit Bumrah to become the highest-rated Indian bowler in ICC T20I Bowler Rankings. Notably, Bumrah had reached a career-best T20I ratings of 783 on 1 February 2017, following his brilliant spell of 3/14 against England.
On the overall list for highest points in T20I bowler rankings, the Indian spinner ranks eighth while the top spot belongs to former Pakistan quick Umar Gul with 865 points. Samual Badree (864), Daniel Vettori (858), Sunil Narine (832) and Rashid Khan (828) make up the top five.
Varun’s new achievement now puts him 119 points ahead of his next challenger, Kiwi pacer Jacob Duffy who currently has 699 points. For the unversed, Varun had attained the No.1 spot back in September during India’s title-winning Asia Cup 2025 campaign.
Apart from Varun, pacer Arshdeep Singh also saw improvement in his standings, climbing four places to 16th spot after his POTM performance in the IND Vs SA 3rd T20I.
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The 34-year-old has played a key role in both of India’s successes this year, starting with the Champions Trophy 2025 win and then the Asia Cup 2025 domination. In CT2025, Varun finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with nine scalps in three matches, while he took the joint second-most wickets for India in the continental tournament. Furthermore, he has looked in good form during the IND vs SA series and India will be hoping he can continue his rhythm when the country co-hosts the T20 World Cup 2026 early next year in February.
India will enter the ICC event as defending champions after winning the previous edition under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy and Varun will have a task cut out in the title defence. He will be one of the frontline spinners alongside Kuldeep Yadav and will be expected to work his magic on the spinning tracks of the subcontinent.
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