Pakistan cricketers improved their rankings in T20I cricket after the latest update by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has jumped one spot to fourth on the list of batters after being his team’s highest run-scorer during recently-concluded T20I series against New Zealand. He is closing in on the top spot which is currently held by India’s Suryakumar Yadav.
“Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has closed the gap on India dynamo Suryakumar Yadav at the top of the ICC Men's T20I Batter Rankings following an excellent end to his side's series against New Zealand,” the ICC said in a press release.
“Babar was Pakistan's leading run-scorer during an enthralling series that ended tied at 2-2, with the right-hander scoring a half-century in a victory in the fifth T20I of the series to finish with a total of 125 runs from four innings at the top of his side's batting order.
“It helped Babar improve one spot to fourth on the updated list of T20I rankings for batters and boost his rating by a total of 10 points to 763, with Suryakumar now just 98 rating points ahead of the Pakistan skipper just one month out from the start of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.”
Fakhar Zaman also improved 10 places to 62nd after his 104 runs during the series against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi rose three places to equal 14th following his eight wickets across four matches against New Zealand.
Imad Wasim, who recently took back retirement, also jumped 10 places to 22nd in the T20I all-rounders rankings.
New Zealand's Tim Seifert improved seven places to equal seventh after accumulating 85 runs in the series against Pakistan at a strike-rate of 144.06.
Michael Bracewell (up 13 spots to 55th) and Ben Sears (up 29 places to 60th) also improved their positions on the list for T20I bowlers.
- Babar Azam