Virat Kohli finishes above Ravindra Jadeja in T20I all-rounder rankings

In an amazing feat, Virat Kohli ended his T20I career at a higher International Cricket Council (ICC) men's all-rounder's ranking than his teammate Ravindra Jadeja despite playing most of his 125 matches in the format as a specialist batter. In the latest update (July 2), Kohli was ranked 40th for his batting and 79th for his all-round skills.

Jadeja was placed 86th on the all-rounder's chart, with a deficit of four points. This was despite his selection to India's 2024 men's T20 World Cup squad as a premier all-rounder.

Both Kohli and Jadeja, alongside their captain Rohit Sharma, retired from T20Is after the World Cup, which India won by going unbeaten through the first three rounds and defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final in Barbados.

The hardly believable difference in the pair's all-rounder rankings is telling of a ranking system that many consider to be flawed. It was probably also impacted by the large number of T20Is Jadeja missed, which shows in fluctuations in the rest of the table too.

However, that can't hide the fact that despite being one of the best Test all-rounders in the world, Jadeja never quite cracked the code in T20Is. He picked up 54 wickets in 74 matches but hardly found consistency. His batting numbers -- 515 runs in 41 innings at 21.45 and a strike rate of 127.16 -- were also underwhelming.

Ravindra Jadeja had a poor 2024 T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup was a good chance for Jadeja to take over Kohli because the batter struggled for runs until his 'Player of the Match' performance in the final.

However, the Chennai Super Kings all-rounder could return just 35 runs (five innings) and a solitary wicket (seven innings) in the campaign. Thankfully for India, Axar Patel's timely emergence didn't let them feel the brunt of Jadeja's struggles.