DUBAI – Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi have moved up in latest T20I rankings issued by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.
Mohammad Rizwan jumped two places to move to sixth on the list for batters and pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi gained six spots to jump to 20th for bowlers.
However, Babar Azam slipped two places to drop to seventh place. It comes after his unimpressive performance in first T20I against South Africa on Tuesday when he was dismissed for duck.
Meanwhile, Joe Root’s reign as the best player in the world is over as rising England star Harry Brook confirmed his climb to the top by claiming the No.1 spot for the first time on the latest ICC Men’s Test Batter Rankings.
Brook overtakes Root to snatch the premier Test batter ranking on the back of his eighth Test century against New Zealand in Wellington last week, with the England right-hander now holding on to a narrow one-point advantage over his more experienced teammate at the top of the rankings list.
The rise of Brook to a total of 898 rating points is just one more than Root’s current haul of 897 and sees the 25-year-old join India great Sachin Tendulkar with the equal 34th highest rating of all time for Test batters.
Root has held top spot since he leapfrogged former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson in July this year and has been in the premier position a total of nine times over his glittering career.
Brook managed scores of 123 and 55 during England’s impressive 323-run triumph over the Black Caps at Basin Reserve and Root – who managed innings of three and 106 in the same contest – had no hesitation in nominating his successor as the best player in the world after the match.
