It's no secret that India has dominated T20I cricket in the recent past, but their dominance has achieved a new peak. The top three individual rankings and the label of the number 1-ranked team in T20Is now all sit with the Men in Blue. Furthermore, they are also the reigning T20I Champions of the World. Varun Chakravarthy’s rise to No.1 in the ICC T20I bowling rankings is the latest sign of that dominance. India also boasts the No.1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma and the No.1 all-rounder Hardik Pandya on their roster.

What makes this stranglehold on the ICC rankings so special is that the team itself is full of youthful batting exuberance combined with inventive bowling and a sprinkle of experience. No matter how many matches you've played in the tricolour, each player has had proper experience of playing in International conditions under pressure thanks to the IPL, where you get a conveyor belt of T20 readiness: match awareness, finishing instincts and variety in bowling that translate directly to international success.

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The Indian Premier League's role in transforming these players from raw to a finished product, at least for the T20 format, cannot be understated. Hardik Pandya's rise in the Mumbai Indians, Abhishek Sharma's exploits with partner-in-crime Travis Head for SRH, and Varun Chakravarty's spin partnership with Sunil Narine have conditioned them, along with other members of the squad, extremely well for the International circuit.

When a full-playing 11 has been conditioned that well, it forms a young, hungry nucleus of players constantly trying to outdo themselves. Opponents may find bursts of brilliance, but sustaining excellence across batting and bowling is hard work.

The Indian T20I squad currently has a mix that will keep the stamp of authority of Indian cricket on the world stage for many years to come. And while the ICC rankings, per se, don't often give you the full picture, this level of dominance is unheard of purely from a ranking perspective. No team has had such a clean sweep in rankings across one format like India has in T20Is currently.