Pakistan’s impressive triumph over Afghanistan in the first ODI in Hambantota has seen a host of their players rewarded on the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI Rankings. Babar Azam’s side issued an ominous warning ahead of this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup with a superb 142-run victory over their Asian rivals on Tuesday, with consistent opener Imam-ul-Haq and dynamic fast bowler Haris Rauf among the star performers in the contest.
Imam-ul-Haq held Pakistan’s innings together with a stylish 61 and the left-hander was rewarded by jumping one place to third on the latest ICC ODI Rankings for batters, with Babar Azam maintaining his healthy lead at the top of the list despite a third-ball duck in the match. Babar Azam (880 rating points) leads South Africa hard-hitter Rassie van der Dussen (777), with Imam-ul-Haq (752) closing in on second place following his 17th half-century in international ODI cricket.
India’s Shubman Gill (743 rating points) is in fourth spot ahead of fifth-placed Fakhar Zaman (740), while Pakistan teammate Mohammad Rizwan moves up three places to 58th on the list for batters following his innings of 21 against Afghanistan.
Things are much tighter on the updated rankings for ODI bowlers, with Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood still holding down the premier position with 705 rating points ahead of teammate Mitchell Starc (686). Mujeeb Ur Rahman is the new challenger to the leading duo, with the Afghanistan spinner climbing three places to third overall following his three-wicket haul against Pakistan.
Experienced teammate Mohammad Nabi improves a solitary spot to 11th for his two wickets from the same match, while Rauf shoots up seven places to a new career-high rating and 36th place overall following his blistering five-wicket haul for Pakistan. There was also some movement within the latest T20I rankings, following the completion of UAE’s series against New Zealand and the first two matches of Ireland’s series with India.
Mark Chapman was the leading run-scorer for the series with 126 runs and that saw the left-hander jump eight places to 24th overall on the list for T20I batters, with India Suryakumar Yadav holding on to the No.1 position despite the fact he is sitting out the series against Ireland. It helped compatriot Ruturaj Gaikwad make a strong impression and the right-hander improved a whopping 143 places to equal 87th following his half-century in the second match against Ireland in Dublin.
There is more joy for India in the T20I bowler rankings, with Ravi Bishnoi improving 17 places to equal 65th following consecutive two-wicket hauls against the Irish, while star pacer Jasprit Bumrah jumps seven spots to 84th following an impressive return from injury.
