The Aussies and English dominate Women's T20 rankings

Akin to the launch of the Men’s T20I rankings prior to the tournament, the ICC has launched T20I rankings for women ahead of the Women’s World Twently20 which is due to begin.

The top rankings are almost evenly shared by the Australian and English players, with more than half the Top 20 in batting and bowling belonging to them. Australian all-rounder Lisa Sthalekar leads the bowling rankings. Lisa Stalekar picked up 56 wickets in 46 T20Is, while Anisa Mohammed of the West Indies, who has 62 wickets in 43 T20Is, came in second. What makes Sthalekar such a prolific all-rounder are the 604 runs in addition to those 56 wickets and thus, she also topped the all-rounder rankings.

Sthalekar said: “I am really surprised by this announcement but it’s a nice bonus and great to be recognised for my performances of late. I initially thought T20I was very fast and I didn’t quite understand the game but I have found that it is a great vehicle to promote women’s cricket.”

On the other hand, English wicket-keeper, Sarah Taylor sits pretty at the top in the batting rankings. Sarah Taylor also won the T20 Player of the year during the ICC Awards that were held preceding the start of the tournament. She holds the top spot, while teammate, Charlotte Edwards is at second. She will be looking at extending her T20 form into the World Twenty20 to. Taylor is also at the third spot in the ODI rankings for batsmen.

“It’s great to hear that I feature at number two in the batting rankings and I’m really pleased for Sarah that she’s made the number one spot. She is in a great form at the moment and thoroughly deserves that accolade.

“I’m pleased to know that players in the women’s game are being recognised in the T20 format with the introduction of the Reliance ICC T20I Player Rankings for women. The rankings highlight how the women’s game continues to develop across the world with more and more T20 cricket being played,” Edwards said.

West Indian, Stephanie Taylor who had won the award for the ODI Player of the year features in the Top 5 rankings for batsmen.

Indian Mithali Raj was the best-placed Indian batsman at No.3, while Jhulan Goswami was the second ranked bowler. Harpreet Kaur is placed sixth in the batting rankings. Amita Sharma was fifth on the all-rounders rankings.

The Top 20 list of batsmen includes 5 batters from Australia and England, three from West Indies and 2 from India and New Zealand each. The list of bowlers includes seven players from England and five from Australia.