Akeal Hosein up to number one in T20 bowling rankings

West Indies fell to a second straight loss in their three-match Twenty/20 series versus Bangladesh after a 27-run loss at the Arnos Vale Stadium, St Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday night, but left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein has reaped the rewards for his performances by moving to the top of the T20 bowling rankings.

In the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the 31-year-old TT player moved up three spots from his previous position of fourth. Hosein leads the pack with 707 points, with leg-spinners Adil Rashid (701 points), Wanindu Hasaranga (696 points) and Adam Zampa (694 points) next on the list.

Another spinner, Maheesh Theekshana (684 points) rounds off the top five, with Hosein’s Windies teammate Gudakesh Motie (651 points) slipping to ninth spot.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) issued a media release congratulating Hosein, who bowled exceptionally in the first two T20s versus Bangladesh, taking figures of two for 13 and one for 16 respectively.

“Hosein, who is now the joint third-highest wicket-taker for the West Indies in the (T20) format with 60 scalps alongside Andre Russell, follows in the footsteps of Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine as the only West Indies bowlers to be ranked number one in T20s,” the CWI release said.

Dwayne Bravo (78 wickets) stands as the leading wicket-taker for the West Indies in T20s, followed by allrounder Jason Holder (66 wickets).

In 22 T20 matches this year, Hosein has taken 23 wickets, with a career-best return of five for 11 coming against Uganda in an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match at Providence Stadium in Guyana back in June. Hosein took nine wickets in seven matches at the World Cup.

Roston Chase moved up two spots to ninth on the T20 allrounder rankings, with Romario Shepherd remaining in eighth spot.

Meanwhile, on the T20 batting rankings, Nicholas Pooran dropped three spots to 14th, with Brandon King slipping to 17th.

Hosein will be unavailable for the third and final T20 versus Bangladesh on Thursday, as he’s expected to fulfill his commitments in the Australian Big Bash. Hosein will be replaced in the 15-man squad by his TT teammate Jayden Seales.