Abrar Ahmed surges towards top spot

Continuing his spectacular run in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed has enjoyed another fruitful week in the ICC Men’s T20I Bowling Rankings charts.

Following an 11-place jump last week, Abrar has made another massive leap, this time by 12 spots, and is now within distance of the pole position, currently sitting at No.4 with 703 rating points.

Abrar was at his very best during Pakistan's group stage fixture against the UAE, picking two wickets for just 13 runs, before an indifferent outing in a loss against India (1/42).

However, the leg-spinner regained his composure and delivered an exceptional spell of 1/8 against Sri Lanka. This helped Pakistan to a win, and brought their Asia Cup campaign right on track.

The task to take the No.1 ranked bowler will, however, not be the easiest, given Varun Chakaravarthy is well adept in performing in the Emirati surroundings, having consolidated his place with a 14 rating points gain.

Despite going wicketless in the outing against Pakistan, the spinner bowled an economical spell of 0/25 that helped control the scoring rate.

And after a temporary dip in form, which saw him lose four ranking positions last week, Bangladesh’s seasoned T20I pacer Mustafizur Rahman is back in top 10 courtesy a six-place jump. The left-arm pacer has nabbed six wickets at an average of eight in his last two outings in the tournament.

Pakistan’s Haris Rauf (nine places up to 28) and India’s Hardik Pandya (six places up to 60) have also made bowling gains.

Among the batters, India opener Abhishek Sharma made rating points gains while retaining his place as the No.1 ranked T20I batter. He hit a quick-fire 38 against Oman during India’s final group stage encounter, before smashing a match-winning 74 to chase down Pakistan’s total of 171 on Sunday.

His teammate Tilak Varma, who helped finish the chase with an electric 30* off 19, gains a position to sit at No.3.

Sahibzada Farhan, who smashed a 58 off 45 to get Pakistan going in the same game, jumped 31 spots to reach 24th place. Hussain Talat who guided Pakistan to a win against Sri Lanka with a composed innings, jumped an astronomical 1474 spots to become the joint 234th placed in the men’s T20I batter rankings.

Another massive gainer was Saif Hassan, whose 61 had helped Bangladesh get to a winning start in Super Four at Asia Cup. The batter gained 133 places to reach the 81st ranking in the batting charts.

All-rounder Faheem Ashraf, who has impressed with his control with the ball in the ongoing continental tournament, jumped 12 places in the ICC Men’s T20I All-rounder Rankings, to become equal 39th.

While India’s Hardik Pandya continues to lead this set, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga gained a place following four wickets from his recent two outings to sit at the seventh place.

Earlier, Pakistan and Sri Lanka’s spinners Abrar Ahmed and Wanindu Hasaranga won hearts worldwide after sharing a heartwarming display of mutual respect at the end of their Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

The two cricketers were seen smiling and hugging after the match, following a lighthearted on-field exchange where both mimicked each other’s wicket celebrations.

What began as playful banter — Abrar imitating Hasaranga’s celebration after dismissing him, followed by Hasaranga returning the gesture when he removed Saim Ayub — ended in a memorable moment of sportsmanship.

Instead of friction, both players embraced the rivalry with humour, earning widespread praise. Fans flooded social media with clips and images of the gesture, calling it “true sportsmanship” and “the beauty of cricket.”