Pakistan’s ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi on Wednesday, soared to the summit of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings.
Shaheen, who took eight wickets at an average of 12.62 in Pakistan’s historic ODI series victory over Australia, jumped three places to replace South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj – dropped two places to third – at the summit, while Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan remained second.
Afridi has previously held the top spot during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
His bowling partner, Haris Rauf, who was named the Player of the Series in Pakistan’s 2-1 routing of Australia, improved 14 places to 13th and achieved a career-high rating in the format, while compatriot Naseem also rose to a new-high as he jumped 14 plays to a joint 55th.
Following Afridi’s rise to the top, the top-ranked players in both batting and bowling rankings are now from Pakistan as star batter Babar Azam continued his dominance.
The right-handed batter extended his lead atop from India’s Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, respectively, courtesy of his 80 runs across three matches against Australia, in which he was dismissed only once.
Pakistan’s newly-appointed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan also made gains as he jumped two spots to a joint 23rd in the ODI batting rankings following his 74 runs in three innings against Australia.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s veteran Mohammad Nabi, who is set to call time on his glittering ODI career, remained at the top of the all-rounders’ rankings. He is followed by Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and compatriot Rashid in the list.
