The 34-year-old overtakes New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy at the top of the bowling rankings.

Team India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has become the No 1 bowler In T20I format on the latest ICC men’s T20I rankings. The 34-year-old overtakes New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy at the top of the bowling rankings. Chakaravarthy becomes just the third Indian bowler after Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi to take the No 1 spot in the T20I rankings.

The mystery spinner became the mainstay in the Indian T20I side after Gautam Gambhir took over the team. The Kolkata Knight Riders player had sensational outings in nearly every series that he played. Varun who been sidelined from the team after India's disastrous 2021 T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE, ensured that he grabbed the second chance with both hands and has performed exceptionallyonally well.

Varun 'sperformance in 2025

Fresh from a second career five-wicket haul against England at the start of the year, Chakaravarthy has looked in good touch at the ongoing Asia Cup where he has two wickets from as many matches against the UAE and Pakistan.

The mystery spinner collected figures of 1/4 in India's tournament opener against the hosts and backed that up with an equally impressive haul of 1/24 from four overs in the commanding victory over Pakistan four days later.

It proved enough for Chakaravarthy to rise three spots to claim the premier position for the first time. West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein remains in third and Australia's Adam Zampa rising to fourth overall. Kuldeep Yadav has also jumped an impressive 16 spots to reach 23rd position.