Dubai, Jan 29 (PTI): Talented India batter Tilak Varma climbed one spot to second, while mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy made a massive leap of 25 places to break into the top five in the latest ICC men's T20I rankings released on Wednesday.

Varma now sits just behind Travis Head in the batters' list, with the Australian maintaining a 23-point lead at the top.

The young Indian left-hander has been in sublime form, posting scores of 19 not out, 72 not out, and 18 in India's ongoing T20I series against England.

With two matches remaining in the series, Varma has a chance to overtake Head and become the youngest-ever player to top the rankings -- a record currently held by Babar Azam, who reached No. 1 at the age of 23 years and 105 days.

Varma's current rating of 832 points is the fourth-highest ever achieved by an Indian batter in T20I history, behind only Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul.

India's Abhishek Sharma also made significant strides, jumping 59 places to 40th, while England's Liam Livingstone (up five spots to 32nd) and Ben Duckett (up 28 places to 68th) were the biggest gainers from the visiting team.

Chakravarthy’s rise

Chakravarthy's magical 5/24 in India's 26-run loss in the third T20I propelled him to top five in the T20I bowling rankings.

Meanwhile, fellow spinner Axar Patel moved up five places to 11th, just outside the top 10.

England’s Adil Rashid has reclaimed the No. 1 spot among T20I bowlers.

Rashid first claimed the top position at the end of 2023 and held it for much of last year until West Indies’ Akeal Hosein briefly surpassed him before Christmas.

Bumrah continues to dominate Test rankings

India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remains the top-ranked Test bowler following his sensational performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

His dominance across formats also earned him the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024.

Among Test all-rounders, West Indies’ Jomel Warrican has climbed to 24th, while Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan moved up two places to 15th in the Test batters’ rankings, which continue to be led by England’s Joe Root.

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Singapore (PTI): Singapore’s Indian-origin Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh was found guilty on Monday of giving false testimony to a parliamentary committee, a verdict that could see him disqualified from Parliament and contesting a general election this year.

In the verdict delivered in the State Courts, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan convicted Singh of the two charges against him.

The charges against Singh relate to his handling of Raeesah Khan, a former lawmaker from his party, who lied to Parliament in a separate case.

Singh, 48, was accused of wilfully giving two false answers to the Committee of Privileges (COP) during its inquiry into Khan's case on December 10 and December 15, 2021.

The case stems from Singh’s handling of Khan’s false claim in Parliament about accompanying a sexual assault victim to the police station.

Singh faces up to three years in jail, a fine of up to SGD7,000 (USD 5,290), or both for each charge.

Singh’s trial began four months ago.

Politically, the conviction could disqualify Singh from his parliamentary seat and rule out his standing in the next general election which must be called by November 2025.

"Any claim he made to the COP to the contrary was a lie he wilfully told," said Judge Tan.

The sentencing in the case will be announced later in the day.