Abhishek Sharma became only the fourth Indian batter after Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav to become the world no.1 ranked batter in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) T20I rankings, which were released on Wednesday (July 30). The 23-year-old replaced star Australian batter Travis Head from the top spot. As things stand, Sharma has 829 points while Head has 814. Meanwhile, Indian star Tilak Varma is third with 804 points. Phil Salt (791) and Jos Buttler (772) are fourth and fifth on the list. How Did Abhishek Sharma Replace Travis Head In Top Spot? Sharma has climbed to the top spot despite India not playing any T20I since February 2. Since the last six months, India's focus has been on ODI cricket when they play England in a three-match series and the 2025 Champions Trophy before the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). Since the cash-rich league ended, India almost immediately flew to England for the ongoing marquee five-match Test series. However, Sharma has managed to get the top spot from Head due to the star Australian opener losing points. Head did not play for Australia in their 5-0 series victory vs West Indies and as a result was punished in the ICC Rankings. Head will be seen in action again in T20Is in August when Australia host South Africa in a three-match series. He last played in the shortest format in September last year. As far as India is concerned, their next assignment in T20Is is the 2025 Asia Cup, scheduled to take place from September 9 to 28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In India's last T20I series, Sharma made 279 runs at an average of 55.80 at a strike-rate of 219.69 with one century and half-century. The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made their T20I debut in July last year and already has two centuries with 535 runs in 17 matches with an average of 33.4.