Varun Chakravarthy storms to No.1 T20I ranking ahead of Asia Cup clash vs Oman

The mystery spinner became the mainstay in the Indian T20I side after Gautam Gambhir took over the team. The Kolkata Knight Riders player had sensational outings in nearly every series that he played.

Varun had been sidelined from the team after India's disastrous 2021 T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE, but has found tremendous success in his second life in the team. The 34-year-old has shown his class with a string of strong performances that have helped him overtake New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy.

Varun's Sensational 2025

2025 has been a sensational year for Varun so far. In the 5-match T20I series against England at the start of the year, Varun picked up 14 wickets in that series, helping the hosts maul England in the build-up to the Champions Trophy. He has looked in good touch in the Asia Cup as well, where he has two wickets from as many matches against the UAE and Pakistan.

Chakravarthy collected figures of 1/4 in India's tournament opener against the hosts and backed that up with an equally impressive haul of 1/24 from four overs in the commanding victory over Pakistan four days later.

It proved enough for Chakravarthy to rise three spots to claim the premier position for the first time in his career.

In the ranking list, Jacob Duffy dropped to 2nd, West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein remained in 3rd. Australia's Adam Zampa and England's Adil Rashid are ranked 4th and 5th respectively.