Shaheen Afridi headlines Test ranking, Babar Azam loses ground in T20I

• Rizwan (up five places to 18), Fawad (up seven places to 20) have moved up in batters’ Test list.
• Babar loses top spot in T20I rankings after poor show in ongoing West Indies series.
• Dawid Malan is back on the T20I ranking top spot, replacing Babar.

DUBAI: Following impressive performances against Bangladesh in the recently concluded Test series, Pakistani bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sajid Khan improved their rankings.

However, despite Pakistan whitewashing the Bangladesh series, the skipper, Babar Azam, could not perform in the ongoing Pakistan-West Indies series. He has now lost his first position in the T20 rankings. 

The International Cricket Council on Wednesday released the latest rankings in which Australia batters Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head attained their career-best positions in the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings.

Labuschagne’s first innings 74 in the first Test against England has lifted him two slots to a career-best second position while Player of the Match Travis Head’s pacy 152 has helped him gallop 16 places to number 10 in the list. Labuschagne’s previous best ranking was third while Head’s best was 17th.

Other batters to move up after the first Ashes Test, which Australia won by nine wickets, include Australia opener David Warner (up three places to sixth) and England’s Dawid Malan (up 18 places to 77th) while the bowlers’ rankings see England’s Ollie Robinson (up four places to 31st) and Mark Wood (up two places to 50th) progress in the list led by Australia captain Pat Cummins.

Shaheen headlines the bowling rankings — gaining the third spot — in the latest weekly update for men that is carried out on Wednesdays.

Shaheen has continued his ascent with three wickets in the match while off-spinner Sajid Khan has zoomed up 52 places to the 49th spot after a 12-wicket haul that won him the Player of the Match award.

Mohammad Rizwan (up five places to 18) and Fawad Alam (up seven places to 20) have moved up in the batters’ list after their useful half-centuries.

For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan scored 33 and 63, advancing eight places to the 35th spot. He has also gained one slot to reach the number four place among all-rounders, overtaking Ben Stokes along with India’s Ravindra Jadeja, who is now placed at number three in the list.

In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Malan is back on the top spot after Pakistan captain Babar was unable to hold on to the top spot.

Haider Ali has gained 86 slots to reach the 98th position after scores of 68 and 31 while the rankings for bowlers saw spinner Shadab Khan back in the top 10, moving up five slots to the ninth position.

Fast bowler Haris Rauf is up three places to the 19th spot while Mohammad Nawaz has gained 29 slots to reach the 54th position. For the West Indies, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosen has gained 73 slots and is now at number 68 in the rankings.