Nepal all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee rises in latest ICC Men's T20I all-rounder rankings

DUBAI: Dipendra Singh Airee continues to rise, closing in on the top 10 spots on the T20I rankings for all-rounders, as per ICC.

Airee's six-hitting heroics have been rewarded with the Nepal star making giant gains on the latest ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings.

The Nepal all-rounder joined India great Yuvraj Singh and West Indies legend Kieron Pollard and became just the third player in T20I to smash six sixes in an over when he took 36 runs from one Kamran Khan's final six balls on his way to an unbeaten 64* during an ACC Men's T20I Premier Cup clash against Qatar in Al Amerat on Saturday.

The feat not only helped Nepal to get to a comfortable 32-run victory over their Asian rival but it also saw Airee make good ground in both the T20I batter rankings and all-rounder rankings. These rankings were updated on Wednesday by the ICC.

Airee improved a total of 16 places to equal 61st on the updated rankings for T20I batters, while also moving to the cusp of the top 10 when rising 14 spots to 11th on the list for T20I all-rounders.

The in-form all-rounder wasn't the only player from Nepal to make ground on the latest rankings update, with teammate Aasif Sheikh moving up 36 spots to 75th on the list for T20I batters following a hat-trick of good scores at the same tournament.

The 22-year-old opener produced scores of 32, 52 and 40 in consecutive matches against Malaysia, Qatar and Hong Kong and rose to a new career-high rating as a result of his good form.

Kushal Malla has also been in decent touch for Nepal of late and the 20-year-old rose five places to equal 27th on the updated T20I all-rounder rankings on the back of an innings of 35 and a wicket against Qatar.