Shaheen Afridi rises in ICC ODI bowling rankings, Babar Azam slips to ninth
Shaheen Shah Afridi has moved up two places to sixth in the ICC ODI bowling rankings released on Wednesday. Babar Azam dropped two places to ninth among batters.
- Shaheen Afridi is sixth in ODI bowling after taking eight wickets in four tri-series matches
- Babar Azam fell two places to ninth in batting
- Shadab Khan climbed 32 places to 92nd among batters after an unbeaten 113 against England
The latest ICC Men's ODI rankings, released on Wednesday, showed mixed results for Pakistan's players after the ongoing home tri-series against England and Sri Lanka.
Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi rose two places to sixth among ODI bowlers after taking eight wickets in four matches of the series. Afghanistan's Rashid Khan stayed first, with South Africa's Keshav Maharaj second. Abrar Ahmed, who has not yet played in the series, slipped one place to third.
Other Pakistan bowlers lost ground. Haris Rauf fell nine places to 29th and Naseem Shah dropped six places to 53rd. Young spinner Arafat Minhas gained 15 places to reach 68th with 435 rating points, after taking six wickets against England, according to ProPakistani.
Among batters, former captain Babar Azam fell two places to ninth after scoring 118 runs in four matches without a major innings. Salman Ali Agha slipped one place to 13th. He began the tournament with a century against Sri Lanka but made 51 runs in his next three matches.
Mohammad Rizwan, who has been dropped from Pakistan's ODI squad, fell eight places to 42nd, and Fakhar Zaman dropped two places to 46th.
Shadab Khan made the biggest jump. He rose 32 places to 92nd among batters after an unbeaten 113 off 96 balls against England. Pakistan were 154-9 chasing 242 when Shadab and Haris Rauf added an unbeaten 89 for the last wicket, giving Pakistan a one-wicket win and a place in the final.
In the all-rounder rankings, Shadab climbed 17 places to 50th. Salman Ali Agha fell to 16th and Shaheen slipped to 19th.
Why it matters
Pakistan's captain and leading batters are closely followed by cricket fans in Pakistan, and the rankings show how they fared in the home tri-series ahead of its final.
