While Azhar’s scores of 205 not out and 43 in the second Test against Australia in Melbourne could not prevent Pakistan from going 2-0 down in the three-Test series, his consistent performances throughout the year enabled him to find his way up from 20th at the start of 2016.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Steven Smith’s 165 not out has taken him to 937 points as he has ended the year where he started – in top position. His tally is the 10th highest ever and the highest since former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara’s 938 points in December 2007.
Azhar a ‘Test great’ in the making: Qasim
Smith’s teammates David Warner and Usman Khawaja have also moved up to fifth and 13th position respectively.
On the other hand, India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have finished the year in the top two positions in the Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, which has also seen South Africa fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott finish with career-high ranks after taking four and five wickets, respectively, in Port Elizabeth.
Azhar Ali — the ordinary hero
Rabada, who finished with 46 wickets in nine Tests this year, has retained his 17th position while Abbott has gained seven positions to reach 21st rank.
In the list of bowlers, Bangladesh spinner Mehdi Hassan (34th rank) and New Zealand fast-bowler Colin de Grandhomme (51st rank) had fine first years in Test cricket. However, there is no change among the top five in the list of all-rounders after these two Tests, with Ashwin still leading the table.
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