ISLAMABAD: Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has made significant gain in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings.
The left-arm fast bowler has jumped 20 places to reach 22nd position after grabbing a total of seven wickets against South Africa and Bangladesh, said a press release.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh of India was one place behind Shaheen at a career-best 23rd position after gaining four slots.
However, Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has regained the No.1 spot for bowlers in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings while India’s Suryakumar Yadav has consolidated his position as the top batter in the latest weekly rankings update.
Hasaranga’s haul of two for 23 versus England at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup took his tournament haul to 15 wickets and helped him overtake other leg-spinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan in the rankings table.
Hasaranga had captured the top spot for the first time after his performances in the last edition of this tournament in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, it added.
Yadav, who totals 225 runs in the tournament so far, scored 30 against Bangladesh and a match-winning 61 not out in 25 balls against Zimbabwe to add six rating points to his tally and reach a career-best 869 points, 39 more than Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan.
Devon Conway of New Zealand was 90 points adrift of Yadav in third position while Pakistan captain Babar Azam is a further seven points behind in fourth place.
Australia bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa, who grabbed two wickets each against Afghanistan, have moved up in the top 10.
Hazlewood has inched up one place to third while Zampa has gone from seventh to fifth. England spinner Adil Rashid is also in the top10 while India’s Ravichandran Ashwin has advanced five places to 13th after picking up three Zimbabwe wickets.
Bangladesh’s Nasum Ahmed (up six places to 26th), New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson (up two places to 30th), South Africa’s Wayne Parnell (up 12 places to 37th) and Afghanistan’s Naveen-ul-Haq (up 20 places to 41st) are among the others to find their way up in the latest update.
In the batting rankings, Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka has moved up to 10th position after scoring 67 against England. New Zealand’s Finn Allen has progressed six places to 15th while India batter Lokesh Rahul’s half-centuries against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have lifted him five positions to 16th.
Bangladesh’s Litton Das (up five places to 31st) and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell (up seven places to 33rd) have also moved up while England’s Alex Hales has surged 36 places to 34th after scoring 47 against Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza has moved up two places to a career-best-equaling fourth position in the all-rounders’ rankings after a highly successful tournament that saw him score 219 runs and take 10 wickets.