Indian opener KL Rahul enjoyed a sensational run during the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand and played a crucial role in his side’s 5-0 triumph. Courtesy his spectacular show, he jumped four spots and went to the second position in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings. He is just behind Pakistan’s T20I skipper Babar Azam and will be aiming to get the pinnacle spot too. In the five-matches Rahul scored a whopping 224 runs, the most by any batsman in a bilateral series. He continuously gave good starts to India and ended up receiving the ‘Man of the series’ award too. KL Rahul Becomes Highest Run-Scorer in Bilateral T20I Series, Achieves Feat During IND vs NZ T20I Series 2020.

At the start of the series, Rahul was placed at the sixth spot and within five matches, he replaced Australian skipper Aaron Finch to take the second place. The wicket-keeper batsman is also the highest-ranked Indian batsman. Besides him, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are placed at the ninth and 10th position respectively. In fact, Kohli was the last Indian batsman to go at the top of ICC T20I batting rankings and now, the wicket-keeper batsman has a great chance to achieve that mark.

With this sort of show, Rahul also might have sealed the opening slot in the shortest format of the game and is expected to continue at that position even after Shikhar Dhawan’s comeback after injury. The swashbuckling opener will be next seen in action during the three-match ODI series against the Kiwis and will look to extend his purple patch in the fifty over format too. The opening encounter of the three-match ODI series will be played on February 5 at the Seddon Park in Hamilton.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 03, 2020 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).