Shaheen and Rizwan soar in ICC T20I rankings

Only two Pakistan batters sit among the top 50 T20I batters

Both Shaheen and Rizwan were instrumental against South Africa despite Pakistan’s defeat in first T20I. Photo: AFP

Pakistan's star cricketers Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi experienced significant jumps, while Babar Azam faced a decline in the latest ICC Men's T20I rankings.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan has moved up two spots, from eighth to sixth, with 713 rating points. His knock of 74 runs in the first T20I against South Africa played a key role in his ascent.

On the other hand, Babar has dropped two positions, from fifth to seventh, with 710 rating points. The 30-year-old was dismissed for a duck in the same match, which contributed to his fall.

Apart from Babar and Rizwan, no other Pakistan batter is currently in the Top 50 of the T20I rankings.

Australia's Travis Head remained the top-ranked T20I batter with 855 rating points, followed by England's Phil Salt (829 points) and India's Tilak Varma (806 points).

In the T20I bowling department, Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi has climbed six spots, moving from 26th to 20th, following his stellar performance, where he picked up three wickets, bringing his tally to 100 wickets in T20I cricket.

However, pacer Haris Rauf has seen a slight decline, dropping three places from 20th to 23rd with 588 rating points. All-rounder Imad Wasim also dropped to 40th.

England's Adil Rashid holds the top spot with 701 rating points, followed by Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga in second (696 points) and Australia's Adam Zampa in third (694 points).

The ICC ODI batting rankings, however, remained not all but unchanged, with Pakistan's opening batters Fakhar Zaman (16th), Imam-ul-Haq (18th) and Mohammad Rizwan (24th) maintaining their positions.

However, young opener Saim Ayub has seen a decline, dropping to 79th with 470 points.

In ODI bowling, Shadab Khan has moved down to 99th, while pacer Hasan Ali is now in the 100th spot. Despite this, Haris Rauf retains his place at 15th with 605 points.

Afghanistan's Rashid Khan continues to dominate as the number one ODI bowler with 687 points, followed by Shaheen Afridi in second (675 points) and South Africa's Keshav Maharaj in third (674 points).

In the ICC Test rankings, Pakistan's vice-captain Saud Shakeel remains steady in ninth place with 724 points. Babar Azam has climbed to 18th, followed by Salman Agha (19th) and Mohammad Rizwan (20th).

Harry Brook has overtaken Joe Root as the number one Test batter with 898 points, with Root dropping to second (897 points) and New Zealand's Kane Williamson in third (812 points).

Pakistan's spinner Noman Ali has returned to the top 10, moving to 10th spot with 759 points.

Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi has dropped two places to 18th with 667 points. Spinner Sajid Khan has fallen to 38th, and young pacer Naseem Shah is just behind at 39th.

India's Jasprit Bumrah continues to hold the top spot in the Test bowling rankings with 890 points, followed by South Africa's Kagiso Rabada (856 points). Australia's Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins round out the top four.

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