South Africa players rise after T20 series win over India

There are now nine points separating the two with the action set to heat up across the competing nations in next year’s ICC World T20 in India.

South Africa’s JP Duminy, who enjoyed a strong series with undefeated innings of 68 and 30, has overtaken India’s Suresh Raina and climbed five places to 11th with 649 points, three points adrift of Australia’s David Warner.

There was upward movement for three other Proteas batsmen; Hashim Amla has moved up one place to 21st, AB de Villiers has climbed five places to 34th, while Farhaan Behardien is the highest mover, up 15 places to 94th.

Imran Tahir, the South African leg-spinner, is the highest mover in the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Bowlers and has risen three places to move back into the top 10 and into ninth position after claiming two wickets for 59 runs in the series. Tahir’s rise leaves him one point behind New Zealand’s Nathan McCullum but the highest-ranked bowler from either side in the series is Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who remains in fourth place.

Kyle Abbott, the Proteas pacer, has soared 15 places to a career-high 29th after two for 50 in both games. Other notable movers include Indians Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has moved up four places to 31st and Harbhajan Singh (up two to 47th), while there were career-high gains for South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (up 40 to 68th) and Raina (up 12 to 88th).

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan retains the number one spot and holds a commanding 78-point lead over Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez in the ICC Player Rankings for T20I All-rounders.

Faf du Plessis’ men have now moved up one place to fifth, while MS Dhoni’s side has dropped two places to sixth, after South Africa beat India by seven wickets and six wickets in Dharamsala and Cuttack respectively.