ICC Rankings: Shafali Verma regains No. 1 spot, Smriti Mandhana slips to No. 4 in T20I Batting charts

ICC T20I Rankings: 17-year-old Shafali Verma regained the top spot in the batting chart for women while Smriti Mandhana, who was named the ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2021, slipped a spot to 4th.

17-year-old Shafali Verma regained the No. 1 spot in the International Cricket Council T20I Batting Rankings for Women updated on Tuesday, January 25. Verma replaces Australia Beth Mooney at the top of the batting charts. Meanwhile, India's Smriti Mandana slipped to No. 4, dropping a spot on the list.

Shafali Verma last played T20I cricket in October 2021 and was in decent form in the Women's Big Bash League. Meanwhile, Smriti, who was named the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year for 2021, was in fine form in Australia as she hit a fifty in the final match of a 3-match T20I series last year.

Both Shafali and Smriti are part of India's squad for the New Zealand series in February which will be followed by the 50-over Women's World Cup in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu gained six positions to break into the top 10 of the batting charts after a superb performance in the Commonwealth Games Qualifiers, where she amassed 221 runs at an outstanding average and strike rate of 55.25 and 185.71 respectively. Athapathu is now sitting in eighth place in the rankings.

Shafali Verma back onBig gains for Chamari AthapaththuHere are the movements in this week's @MRFWorldwide ICC Women's Player RankingsDetails https://t.co/vgKLeRzB8D pic.twitter.com/Eh6A9fi7bj

She led Sri Lanka from the front with her batting performances and helped them in winning the tournament as well. She was equally good with the ball and registered figures of 3/17 in the final against Bangladesh, along with playing yet another swashbuckling knock of 48 at the top of the order. She made a significant gain in the all-rounder's rankings too, as she rose a place above to the seventh spot.

Australian duo Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning occupy the second and third positions in the rankings respectively while another Australian in Alyssa Healy features in the sixth place. New Zealand also have two representatives in the top 10, with Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates managing to hold on to their fifth and seventh positions respectively.