DUBAI – Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and pacer Shaheen Afridi have witnessed improvement in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings released on Wednesday.
Babar Azam jumped two places to secure fourth position in the Test Batting Rankings, which are toped by New Zealand’s Kane Williamson with 883 points.
Former England skipper Joe Root improved one spot to second while New Zealand’s Steve Smith jumped two places to third spot. Smith’s young teammate Harry Brook jumps two places to ninth and a new career-high rating following his 363 runs for the series.
Pakistan’s unbeaten start to the new ICC World Test Championship cycle has seen a handful of their players make good ground on the rankings, with Abdullah Shafique (up 27 places to 21st), Mohammad Rizwan (up four spots to equal 29th) and Agha Salman (up 23 positions to 35th) shooting up the list for Test batters following the side’s victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Their bowlers were also rewarded, with rising pacer Naseem Shah up seven spots to equal 37th and left-arm spinner Noman Ali improving 13 places to 42nd the most notable improvers. Shaheen Shah Afridi jumped three places to clinch sixth place.
There wasn’t much change to the ODI rankings this week, although experienced India spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up eight places to 14th on the list for ODI bowlers following his impressive display with the ball against the West Indies.
