Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has earned a place in the International Cricket Council (ICC) men's T20 player rankings, while his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan retained second place, according to the latest update.

The ongoing battle at the top of the ICC Men's T20I batter rankings heats up as Pakistani duo Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam get a chance to join Indian starlet Suryakumar Yadav at the head of proceedings.

Babar moved up to third in the rankings updated by the ICC on Wednesday and will be given more opportunities to gain a foothold in Suryakumar when Pakistan begin their five-game T20I series against New Zealand on Saturday.

“While Suryakumar currently sits comfortably at the top of the T20I batsmen rankings at 906 Elo points, second-placed Rizwan (811) and third-placed Babar (755) could both gain ground as the Indian star goes about his business at IPL.

Both Babar and Rizwan sat out Pakistan's recent T20I series against Afghanistan and are keen to score against the Black Caps, who enjoyed a narrow 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka at home.

Ironically, it was Devon Conway's absence from New Zealand's series against Sri Lanka that saw Babar move up a spot to third in the latest standings, with the Kiwi batter also featuring at the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings .

A host of New Zealand and Sri Lankan stars who have appeared in the recently concluded T20I series have been recognized for their performances, with young spinner Maheesh Theekshana being the biggest eye-catcher as the 22-year-old rose to a career high, finishing fifth -Place in the bowler rankings.

Theekshana was the match winner for Sri Lanka in the first match of the series for his efforts during the super over and the off-spinner backed up that performance with two strong performances as he opened the bowling in the last two matches.

Teammate Wanindu Hasaranga was expensive during the series, falling two places to fourth in the T20I bowler rankings, with Afghan pacesetter Fazalhaq Farooqi (second) and Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood (third) both moving up a place.

It also means Afghanistan takes the top two spots in the T20I bowler rankings, with spinner Rashid Khan leading Farooqi in a close race for the top spot.

Sri Lankan dasher Kusal Mendis (up 11 spots at No. 25) and New Zealand right-hander Tim Seifert (from outside the top 100 at No. 36) were the other big winners in the latest T20I batsman rankings, while there was some movement on the Test rankings after Bangladesh's victory over Ireland in Mirpur.

Veteran right-hander Mushfiqur Rahim moved up five spots to 17th in the Test Batter rankings after 126 and 51*, while spinning duo Taijul Islam and Shakib Al Hasan were rewarded on the bowlers list.

Taijul racked up a valuable five-wicket catch during the first innings to move up three places to 20th place, while the Bangladeshi skipper climbed two places to 26th after bowling 2/26 in the second innings had opened.