Shafali Verma Rises to Fourth in ICC Women's T20I Rankings After Stellar Performances

Shafali Verma has made a significant leap to fourth place in the ICC Women's T20I batting rankings, thanks to her remarkable performances in the Asia Cup and Asian Games. With a series of impressive scores, including a historic century, she has played a pivotal role in India's gold medal victory. Meanwhile, her teammates Deepti Sharma and N Shree Charani continue to dominate the bowling rankings. This article delves into the latest updates in women's cricket rankings and highlights the achievements of these talented players.

By Narendra Chaudhary Sep 23, 2026, 00:21 IST

Shafali Verma's Impressive Ascent in T20I Rankings

New Delhi, September 22: Indian opener Shafali Verma has surged to fourth place in the latest ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings, climbing two spots after her outstanding performances in the Asia Cup and Asian Games. Her teammates, Deepti Sharma and N Shree Charani, continue to dominate the bowling rankings, holding the top two positions.

Shafali surpassed fellow Indian player Smriti Mandhana and West Indies' Hayley Matthews, achieving 756 rating points. The top three spots remain unchanged, with Australia’s Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll, and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt leading the pack, as reported by the ICC.

The 22-year-old maintained her excellent form from the Women’s T20 Asia Cup into the Asian Games, where she scored 64 and 68 runs in the semifinal and final, respectively.

During the Asian Games, she also made a significant contribution with an unbeaten 40 against Japan in the quarterfinals, followed by a remarkable century—her first in white-ball cricket—scoring 100 runs off just 49 balls against Bangladesh in the semifinal. This achievement made her the first woman to hit a century in the Asian Games.

Shafali played a crucial role in securing India’s gold medal, contributing 48 runs in a strong opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana during the final against Sri Lanka. India triumphed by 147 runs, marking their second consecutive gold in women’s cricket at the Asian Games.

In the T20I bowling rankings, India’s spin duo, Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma, continue to lead, both achieving career-best rating points. Charani advanced 15 places, while Deepti climbed 22 spots due to their recent performances.

Additionally, India’s Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma made notable progress, reaching 57th and 72nd positions, respectively.

From Pakistan, batter Shawaal Zulfiqar improved her ranking by 16 places to 29th, achieving a career-best 558 points after scoring 25 in the Asian Games quarterfinal and 54 in the semifinal against Sri Lanka.

Her teammate Ayesha Zafar also made significant strides, moving up 31 places to 40th with a career-high 489 points after her 71-run performance against Sri Lanka. Zafar also climbed nine spots to 30th in the T20I all-rounder rankings.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana gained five places to reach 24th in the bowling rankings, while Thailand’s Onnicha Kamchomphu rose six spots to joint 63rd after taking three wickets against Pakistan.

In other developments, South Africa’s clean sweep of Zimbabwe in a 5-0 T20I series led to further changes in the rankings. Anneke Bosch, the leading run-scorer of the series, moved up eight places to 46th, while young talent Miane Smit reached a career-best joint 53rd.

Zimbabwe’s Nyasha Gwanzura climbed 28 places to 87th in the bowling rankings, while South Africa’s Annerie Dercksen achieved a career-high rating of 179 in the all-rounder rankings, moving to 22nd.

India’s victory in the Asian Games final was bolstered by Mandhana’s impressive 79 runs off 45 balls and Richa Ghosh’s unbeaten 49 runs off 22 balls, leading the team to a total of 216/3. The bowlers then restricted Sri Lanka to just 69 runs in 15.4 overs, with Deepti taking 3 wickets for 6 runs, while Shafali and Shreyanka Patil each claimed two wickets.