Afridi back as No. 1 ODI bowler, Hasaranga second in T20Is

 Staff Report

 LAHORE: Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi is back as the No. 1 ODI bowler in the latest ICC rankings, making it a double for Pakistan cricketers at the summit with Babar Azam extending his lead as the top batter in the format. Afridi’s eight wickets at an average of 12.62 in three outings against Australia took him past Kuldeep Yadav, Rashid Khan and Keshav Maharaj to the top. Rashid remained at No. 2, while Maharaj slipped from first to third and Kuldeep one place down to fourth. This is the second time Afridi has reached top position in ODI rankings after a brief stay there during the 2023 ODI World Cup. Afridi’s seam-bowling partner Haris Rauf moved up 14 places to 13th after bagging 10 wickets in the ODIs against Australia, that had earned him the Player-of-the-Series award. Naseem Shah also climbed 14 spots to a career-best 55th. Babar’s scores of 37, 15 not out and 28* increased his lead among ODI batters. He stays well ahead of the Indian trio of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli who remain in second, third and fourth respectively. There were big gainers among allrounders after the ODI series between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the UAE. Player of the Series Mohammad Nabi remained as the No. 1 ODI allrounder and Rashid went up a place to third, and Azmatullah Omarzai’s strong showing pushed him two places up to No. 9, making it three Afghan players in the top 10. Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who took three wickets in the series and scored 66 in the third ODI, jumped four places to No. 4.

Samson, Hasaranga, Salt make gains in T20Is:

In T20Is, Wanindu Hasaranga’s series haul of 6 for 37 against New Zealand – despite limping through the second fixture where he claimed 4 for 17 – took him four places up to second spot among the bowlers, only behind England’s Adil Rashid. Akeal Hosein’s economical performance against England lifted him to third place while Ravi Bishnoi’s four scalps in two games against South Africa took him one spot up to No. 7. Among batters, the England pair of Phil Salt (second) and Jos Buttler (sixth), alongside West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran (10th) all moved one place up each in the batting rankings after two games in the five-match series in the Caribbean. From the ongoing South Africa vs India T20I series, Sanju Samson continued his rise in the batting ranks. A second successive T20I century for the India opener, this time a 50-ball 107 in the first game, saw him leapfrog 27 positions to 39th. The South African duo of Reeza Hendricks (up two places to 12th) and Tristan Stubbs (up 12 spots to 26th) also made headway on the T20I batting charts that is still led by Travis Head. Salt and Suryakumar Yadav round off the top three.