Mohammad Hafeez jumped four places to regain top position in the all-rounders’ rankings, while improving 17 places in the batsmen’s list to secure 31st position. PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan’s shock defeat in the first One-Day International (ODI) against Zimbabwe left the national team conceding a coveted point in the International Cricket Council ODI Teams’ Rankings, despite winning the three-match series 2-1.
The home team, however, gained three points in spite of the loss, according to the new rankings released yesterday.
Misbahul Haq’s side was stunned by Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket win in the opening game following which, the tourists registered two consecutive victories to seal the series.
Sixth-ranked Pakistan, going into the one-dayers with a 50-point lead, had been favourites to win all three games, but the shake-up in the opener resulted in a point’s loss.
Pakistan, who were trailing fifth-ranked South Africa by three points, are now behind the latter by four. India and Australia continue to maintain the top two spots with 123 and 114 points respectively.
Zimbabwe, though, have reasons to praise themselves as they improved their ranking points from 52 to 55.
Hafeez back as top all-rounder
Adjudged man-of-the-series, Mohammad Hafeez jumped four places to regain top position in the all-rounders’ rankings, replacing Bangladesh’s Shakibal Hasan. India’s Ravindra Jadeja continues to occupy third place.
The seasoned Pakistan all-rounder also improved 17 places in the batsmen’s list to secure 31st position.
Ace Pakistan spinner, Saeed Ajmal was the other main beneficiary from the series, leapfrogging a couple of places to end in third spot in the fresh ODI bowlers’ rankings.
However, Shahid Afridi fell to 32nd (from 27th) in the bowlers’ rankings besides losing a place in the batsmen’s rankings to end in 48th.
Misbah relieved with series win
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Misbah was content following the 108-run win in the decisive match.
“I’m really happy to win this series especially after losing the first match,” said Misbah.
“The biggest lesson we have learned from this is to not take any opposition lightly.”
Misbah stated that his team will have to work hard to overcome Zimbabwe in the Test series starting tomorrow.
“Zimbabwe have some players who have more experience than most of our cricketers, so we need to put in our best efforts.”
Experienced all-rounder Shahid Afridi termed the ODIs a positive for Pakistan ahead of a tough home series against South Africa in
the UAE.
“It helped players who needed to regain momentum,” said Afridi.
“A performance is a performance no matter which team it comes against and it will help in the tough series against South Africa, which is our real test.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2013.
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ