SKY BECOMES NO 1 BATTER IN ICC RANKINGS and Why Gautam Blasted For Undermining Kohli’s Knock Vs PAK, Hiding Behind SKY

There is a new No. 1 T20I batter in the world, and it's an Indian… wait for it. Yes, you got that right, it is SKY. The middle-order batsman, who has been India's biggest positive and in the form of his life, SKY left behind New Zealand's Devon Conway and pipped Pakistan wicket keeper Mohammad to claim the top spot in the ICC men's ranking for T20 batsmen. With 863 points, SKY sits pretty atop the table, with Virat Kohli being the only other Indian in the top 10.
SKY has been hitting all the right notes over the last few months. He was in a rich vein of form in the home season against Australia and South Africa at home and is continuing it in the ongoing T20 World Cup. After a low score against Pakistan (15), SKY peeled off consecutive half-centuries against the Netherlands and South Africa. While in the Netherlands game, Surya's fifty gave India a late flourish, it was against the Proteus that SKY really played one of the best knocks of his life.

With India in trouble at 49/5, Suryakumar did not hold himself back and counter-attacked against the South African pace quartet of Rabada, Luigi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell and Anrich Nortje en route to a brilliant 60 off 40 balls. Gautam even called it one of the best innings ever played by an Indian in T20I, ranking it higher than Virat Kohli's unbeaten 82 against Pakistan just a few days ago.

SKY looked to be celebrating his rise to the top as he raced to 30 off just 15 balls in India vs Bangladesh T20 World Cup tie, but after smacking four boundaries and scoring at a strike rate of 187, his innings came to an end when he was clean bowled by Shakib Al Hasan - failing to connect a cut shot against the run of play.

Incidentally, SKY feat happens to come the same day his India teammate Kohli shattered a considerable world record by becoming the all-time leading run-getter in T20 World Cups, surpassing Sri Lanka great Jayawardene's tally of 1016 runs from 31 matches. Kohli, who was on 10001 runs prior to the start of the match, created history in the seventh over of the innings and in six matches fewer than Jayawardene.

Virat Kohli is the only Indian to have claimed the numero uno position in the T20I Rankings for batters. "SKY's 51 not out off 25 balls against the Netherlands in Sydney and a valiant 68 off 40 against South Africa in Perth have helped him overtake New Zealand's Devon Conway and Pakistan's Mohammad, who had held the top spot since 4 September this year," ICC said in a release. New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips also rose in the rankings, scaling his career-best seventh position after scores of 104 against Sri Lanka and 62 against England.

South Africa batter Riley Rossouw also entered the top 10, courtesy of his 109 against Bangladesh. He moved up 17 slots to a career-best eighth position. Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com England captain Butler also gained three places in the rankings, climbing to 14th position after scoring 73 against New Zealand. SKY produced a fine cameo with the bat against Bangladesh, scoring 30 runs off just 16 balls.

GAUTAM WAS BLASTED FOR UNDERMINING KHOLI'S KNOCK VS PAK, HIDING BEHIND SKY

SKY played the best knock of his T20I career against South Africa in the 2022 T20 World Cup. On a surface where most Indian batters struggled to get their bat to the ball, SKY batted at a strike rate of 170. Not only did he bat at a rapid pace, but also scored more than half of the team’s total in a low-scoring thriller on a pacer-friendly wicket.

Despite SKY’s masterful knock, India ended up on the wrong side of the result as the Proteus chased down the total with five wickets left. Although India lost the match, SKY was the reason why India was able to compete against the Proteus, and with this knock, the right-hander established himself as one of the best T20I batters in the world.

Former India opener Gautam, who is a huge fan of his former IPI, teammate’s talent, lavished massive praise on the 32-year-old. SKY’s brilliant innings deserved all the praise, but many felt that in doing so the southpaw took a swipe at Virat Kohli, who has been in brilliant form in this tournament but got out cheaply against South Africa.

Gautam described SKY’s knock as the best T20 innings he had seen in his life, and rated it as the best T20 innings ever played by an Indian batter. Many fans on social media felt Gautam was trying to undermine Kohli’s incredible match-winning knock against Pakistan.

He got us to 133. I've seen a lot of innings in the past. People have got hundreds for India, he himself has got a hundred. It can't get better than this. It can't get tougher than this. Whether it's the condition or the bowling. When he came in to bat, India was 50/5 (26/2), and from there, if you can get 60-odd off 40, on this kind of wicket... I haven't seen better T20 innings, to be honest, than this, Gautam said on Star Sports. “Yes, you can talk about hundreds and stuff, but it can't get better than this. For me, this is the best T20 innings that have been played by an Indian,” Gautam further stated.

Kohli fans had no issue with Gautam heaping praise on SKY, but they didn’t like him dragging the former India captain unnecessarily to highlight the middle-order batter’s greatness. The fans were pissed with the fact that Gautam had no regard for a batter who single-handedly guided India home in a high-pressure encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan.

There were visuals of Gautam allegedly sleeping inside the commentary box when Kohli scored two match-defining sixes off Harris, in the penultimate over of the innings. At a time when his fellow commentators Akash Chopra and Sanjay Bangor were filled with enthusiasm, Gautam's dull reaction earned him a huge backlash on social media.

SKY is not the first batter to play an innings like that. In the past, many batters have played fiery knocks in the shortest format, but the reason why Kohli’s innings made their way to the folklore of Indian cricket is that it came in the biggest match of the calendar year. At the halfway mark, India looked all at sea. The match looked dead and buried, but Kohli and Hardik never lost hope and eventually guided the Men in Blue over the line, which was no mean feat.
SKY’s knock was special, but Kohli’s was a different class altogether. There was no comparison between the two knocks. Sometimes it’s important for former cricketers to not let their inner bias clog their opinions.