Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 17 (ANI): Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has extended his lead at the top of the ICC Men's T20I Bowler Rankings, climbing to a new career-high rating. The Indian bowler achieved a personal best of 818 points after claiming his third successive two-wicket haul in the ongoing five-match home T20I series against South Africa, as per the ICC website.

The right-arm leg-spinner has picked up six wickets in the first three matches of the series, with his impressive figures of 2/11 from four overs in the third India vs South Africa T20I at Dharamsala playing a key role in India's commanding seven-wicket win.

With 818 rating points, Chakravarthy now enjoys a commanding 119-point lead over second-placed New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy (699). The 34-year-old has also broken into the all-time top 10 for the highest T20I bowling ratings.

This comes as a timely boost for India, with less than two months remaining before they defend the ICC Men's T20 World Cup title they claimed in West Indies last year, as Chakravarthy is expected to be a key figure in their push for successive crowns in the shortest format.

India also received more positive news, with left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh climbing four spots to 16th in the T20I bowling rankings following his Player of the Match performance against South Africa in the third match of the series. Meanwhile, South Africa saw several gains as well, with Marco Jansen jumping 14 places to 25th, Lungi Ngidi rising 11 spots to 44th, and Ottneil Baartman making a big leap from outside the top 100 to 68th.

India now has two batters inside the top five of the ICC T20I rankings, with Tilak Varma climbing two places to fourth overall after three solid innings against South Africa.

His teammate Abhishek Sharma continues to hold a comfortable lead at the top of the batting rankings while South African pair Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock also made notable progress. Markram rose eight places to 29th, and de Kock surged 14 spots to 43rd following some encouraging recent performances. (ANI)