In the ICC T20I rankings, Babar Azam moves up to the third spot.

The current update to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 player rankings shows that Pakistan captain Babar Azam has moved up one spot, while his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan has stayed in second place.

India’s Suryakumar Yadav is in first place and is currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). During the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which starts on April 14 in Lahore, Babar and Rizwan will have the chance to close the gap on Yadav.

“Babar moved up to third on the rankings that were updated by the ICC on Wednesday, and he will have another chance to get closer to Suryakumar when Pakistan start their five-game T20I series against New Zealand on Saturday,” the ICC said.

“At the moment, Suryakumar has a strong lead at the top of the T20I rankings for hitters with 906 rating points. However, second-placed Rizwan (811 rating points) and third-placed Babar (755 rating points) could make gains while the India star is playing in the IPL.

“It’s ironic that Devon Conway’s absence from New Zealand’s series against Sri Lanka helped Babar move up one spot to third on the latest rankings, since the Kiwi batter is also playing in the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings.”

No Pakistani bowler is in the top 10 of the ICC’s rankings for T20I bowlers. The highest-ranked Pakistani bowler is all-rounder Shadab Khan, who is in 12th place.

Shadab is also the only Pakistani player in the top 10 of the all-rounder’s list for T20I, where he is in fourth place.