28 Sep Buttler New T20 World No.4
In a year that saw him dominate the 2022 IPL and take the England T20i captaincy, Jos Buttler has climbed to No.4 in the Men’s T20 Player Index.
That’s a new highest ranking for Buttler, who notched up an emphatic 863 runs for the Rajasthan Royals franchise this season. The tournament MVP scored them at an average of 57.33 and strike rate of 149.05, clubbing 45 sixes on the way.
But not even those stellar stats could help him break into an unchanged top three, with all-rounders Rashid Khan, Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone (first pick in August’s inaugural BBL Draft) retaining their places at first, second and third in the Index respectively. Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga completes the top 5.
Trinidadian slow bowler Sunil Narine (No. 7) has climbed back into the top 10 for the first time in two years – largely thanks to his frugal 5.93 economy rate in the UK’s T20 Blast – while New Zealand star Jimmy Neesham is one of the biggest climbers in the top 30, climbing 42 places to No.23.
Of the fallers, the most significant is Kieron Pollard. Having spent over a year in the No.1 spot in 2020-21, he drops two more places to No.8. That’s the lowest Pollard has ranked in two-and-a-half years, with no sign of his form recovering in the current CPL campaign for Trinbago Knight Riders.
Moeen Ali (two places to No.6), Andre Russell (two places to No. 12) and Shadab Khan (11 places to No. 15) have also descended. As has Hardik Pandya (one place to No.13), despite leading the Gujarat Titans to an IPL championship at the first time of asking.
The UK’s T20 Blast competition has had an undeniable impact on the top 100, with winning captain James Vince up to No.57 in the Index. The Hampshire Hawks’ Finals Day win at Edgbaston in July was Vince’s record sixth victory in the competition overall and also saw him top the run chart.
While Alex Hales’ tournament strike rate of 193.8 has resulted in a climb of eight places to No.32, as well as a return to the England squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Further down the Index, Ben Curran’s (No.699) form for Northants Steelbacks means that he joins his brothers Sam and Tom in the top 700. And, for the first time in Index history, players from France (Gustav Mckeon – No.614), Switzerland (Faheem Nazir – No.668), Croatia (Daniel Turkich – No.850) and Fiji (Peni Vuniwaqa – No.945) have entered the top 1,000.
To see the latest men’s Index rankings click here