3 Indian Bowlers Who Achieved No. 1 ICC T20I Ranking: The Indian cricket team played its first-ever T20I game two decades ago, taking on South Africa in Johannesburg in December 2006.
Under MS Dhoni, India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. India’s second T20 World Cup triumph came 18 years later, in Barbados, when Rohit Sharma’s team conquered South Africa in an epic final and remained unbeaten throughout the competition.
For most of India’s T20I history, it was the Indian batsmen who hogged the limelight. However, in the recent years, a few Indian bowlers have propelled themselves as proper match-winners. In fact, Jasprit Bumrah bagged the Man of the Tournament award at the T20 World Cup 2024, becoming the first Indian bowler to win the prestigious Man of the Tournament award at an ICC World Cup.
While India have moved on from traditional off-spinners, the team now includes point-of-difference bowlers, such as mystery spinner, leg-spinner, and even left-arm wrist-spinner
Rarely have Indian bowlers dominated the ICC T20I bowlers ranking chart, but the trend is gradually altering now. Three Indian bowlers have topped the ICC T20I bowling ranking so far, and we will look at them below.
3 Indian Bowlers Who Have Achieved No. 1 ICC T20I Ranking (Men’s)
1. Jasprit Bumrah
In 2017, Jasprit Bumrah became the first Indian bowler to claim the No. 1 spot in the ICC T20I bowlers ranking when he was not even two years old in international cricket. Bumrah had replaced Pakistani spinner Imad Wasim to attain the numero uno position in T20Is.
In his debut T20I year in 2016, Bumrah took 28 wickets and followed it up with strong performances in 2017 in the lead-up to his rise in the T20I bowlers ranking.
2. Ravi Bishnoi
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi made a sudden and surprising jump to get on top of the ICC T20I bowling charts when, in December 2023, he became the second Indian bowler to reach the premier position for bowlers in the shortest international format by displacing Afghanistan ace spinner Rashid Khan.
Bishnoi had taken nine wickets in five T20Is at home against Australia, and that helped his cause, having taken 34 scalps in his first 21 T20Is for India. However, Bishnoi currently finds himself out of India’s T20I setup.
3. Varun Chakravarthy
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is the third Indian bowler to become the No. 1 ranked ICC T20I bowler. He achieved this position during the Asia Cup 2025, following his figures of 1/4 against the UAE and 1/24 against Pakistan.
The 34-year-old Chakravarthy replaced New Zealand speedster Jacob Duffy from the top spot. Since his return to India’s T20I side in late 2024, Varun Chakravarthy has been outstanding, snaring 33 wickets in 14 matches at an average of only 11.42 and an economy of 7.25.
This run included two five-wicket hauls, and he was the Man of the Series in India’s last bilateral series, which was against England.
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