Rizwan and Shaheen rise as Babar drops in ICC rankings

Pakistan cricket stars Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi have climbed higher in the latest ICC T20I rankings, while Babar Azam has slipped in the standings.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan rose two places to claim the sixth spot with 713 rating points, thanks to his impressive 74-run knock in the first T20I against South Africa.

In contrast, Babar dropped two spots to seventh with 710 rating points, following his dismissal for a duck in the same match.

Apart from Babar and Rizwan, no other Pakistan batter is currently in the top 50 of the T20I rankings.

Australia's Travis Head remains the top-ranked T20I batter with 855 rating points, followed by England's Phil Salt in second (829 points) and India’s Tilak Varma in third (806 points).

In the T20I bowling department, Pakistan’s left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi has climbed six spots, moving from 26th to 20th, following his stellar performance, where he picked up three wickets, bringing his tally to 100 wickets in T20I cricket.

However, pacer Haris Rauf has seen a slight decline, dropping three places from 20th to 23rd with 588 rating points. All-rounder Imad Wasim also dropped to 40th.

England's Adil Rashid holds the top spot with 701 rating points, followed by Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga in second (696 points) and Australia’s Adam Zampa in third (694 points).

The ICC ODI batter rankings remain unchanged, with Pakistan’s opening batters Fakhar Zaman (16th), Imam-ul-Haq (18th), and Mohammad Rizwan (24th) maintaining their positions.

However, young opener Saim Ayub has seen a decline, dropping to 79th with 470 points.

In ODI bowling, Shadab Khan has moved down to 99th, while pacer Hasan Ali is now in the 100th spot. Despite this, Haris Rauf retains his place at 15th with 605 points.

Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan continues to dominate as the number one ODI bowler with 687 points, followed by Shaheen Afridi in second (675 points) and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in third (674 points).

In the ICC Test rankings, Pakistan’s vice-captain Saud Shakeel remains steady in ninth place with 724 points. Babar Azam has climbed to 18th, followed by Salman Agha (19th) and Mohammad Rizwan (20th).

Harry Brook has overtaken Joe Root as the number one Test batter with 898 points, with Root dropping to second (897 points) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson in third (812 points).

Pakistan’s spinner Noman Ali has returned to the top 10, moving to 10th spot with 759 points.

Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi has dropped two places to 18th with 667 points. Spinner Sajid Khan has fallen to 38th, and young pacer Naseem Shah is just behind at 39th.

India's Jasprit Bumrah continues to hold the top spot in the Test bowling rankings with 890 points, followed by South Africa's Kagiso Rabada (856 points). Australia's Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins round out the top four.