West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein has written an emotional message after topping the International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s T20I bowling rankings for the first time in his career.
The left-arm orthodox spinner replaced England’s Adil Rashid as he jumped positions, according to the rankings announced this week.
In this regard, the 31-year-old wrote an emotional note on his Instagram, which he shared with a compilation of his wickets in the shortest format.
“I don’t usually post statistics, but this one is special. Who knew, huh? That the boy from the neighborhood, the boy from Laventille could be number 1 in the world,” wrote Hosein.
“Whatever this is or is being said, however long I remain in this number, no matter what happens, let this serve as a reminder that it was me. That I am number 1”, he added.
His West Indies teammate and wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran, however, added a humorous touch to his celebration by commenting that the top-ranked bowler owes him a Christmas present.
“You owe me a Christmas present for all these things,” Pooran commented on Hosein’s post.
Hosein, who made his T20I debut in 2021, has taken 48 wickets in 55 T20I matches for the West Indies.
In the recently concluded three-match T20I series, Hosein impressed with figures of 2/13 in the opening game and took three more wickets in the remaining two matches.
