Saeed Ajmal climbs to 2nd spot in ICC Test rankings

Ajmal rose one spot to number two, while Rehman is in ninth place after moving up five places and is in the top 10 for the first time. PHOTO: AGENCIES

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal climbed to the second position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after Pakistan defeated England by 72 runs in the second Test on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

Abdur Rehman also made it to the top 10 Test bowlers for the first time in his career, by making his way to the number nine spot, said a press release by ICC on Sunday.

Ajmal, 34, earned 50 ratings points for this achievement giving him a career-best rating, and now leads England’s fast bowler James Anderson by 25 ratings points but still trails number-one ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa by 84 ratings points.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, who had figures of two for 67 and six for 25 to win the man of the match award, jumped five places to ninth spot. The 31-year-old from Sialkot had also gained five places in the bowlers’ rankings after his match figures of four for 89 in the Dubai Test.

It is for the first time after 23 years that two Pakistan spinners have together made it to the top 10 of the Test player rankings.

In September 1988, Abdul Qadir was ranked fifth and Iqbal Qasim tenth, along with Imran Khan (third), Wasim Akram (eighth) and Tauseef Ahmed (13th).

The very fact that Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez are currently the two top-ranked ODI bowlers means this is undoubtedly one of the finest periods for Pakistan spinners in the history of the game, said the press release.