A trio of Pakistan stars have been rewarded for their recent triumph in the West Indies by making big gains on the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings.
Pakistan broke a drought of more than three years without a Test victory away from home when they defeated the West indies by eight wickets in the second match of their ICC World Test Championship series and it was skipper Babar Azam, recalled batter Abdullah Shafique and spinner Sajid Khan that led the way.
Babar scored a superb 88 in the first innings of the match and was there at the end with an unbeaten 24* in the second innings to clinch the victory and the Pakistan skipper was rewarded as he improved five places to move to 10th on the updated rankings for Test batters.
It is the first time Babar has been inside the top 10 for Test batters since the start of September in 2024, breaking a drought of almost two years for the right-hander.
Shafique’s efforts against the West Indies overshadowed those of Babar, with the Pakistan No.3 scoring an excellent unbeaten 160* in the first innings of the match that saw the right-hander gain 25 slots to move to 32nd for Test batters.
Sajid was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers during the Test, with the right-arm spinner improving five places to 30th for Test bowlers and also humping five spots to move to 32nd for Test all-rounders.
Australia left-hander Travis Head remains at the top of the rankings for Test batters, India pace spearhead maintains a lead at the head of the list for Test bowlers, while Ravindra Jadeja is still the No.1 ranked Test all-rounder.
There is also some change near the top of the latest ODI rankings following two recent fixtures between Afghanistan and Ireland and dashing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the big winners as he gains three spots to move to 11th on the updated list for ODI batters following his innings of 71 in Belfast.
Teammate Hashmatullah Shahidi rises four slots to 50th in the same rankings category, with Ireland all-rounder Curtis Campher re-entering the list in equal 59th place after he returned to the ODI arena.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan moves further clear at the top of the rankings for ODI bowlers following consecutive Player of the Match awards – that included a magnificent six-wicket haul in the second match of the series against Ireland – while Irish pacer Mark Adair re-enters the ODI charts in 17th place.
