ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Babar Azam has improved his ranking by 16 places,finishing in 63rd spot in the ICC Test Player Rankings released on Tuesday.
Babar Azam of Pakistan has improved his ranking following contributions of62 and 13 in a low-scoring thriller against New Zealand that eventuallyended in a four-run victory for the visitors in Abu Dhabi, a press releasesaid.
New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls has vaulted 13 places to a career-high 20thposition following his crucial 28 and 55 in the match.
Yasir Shah of Pakistan and Bangladesh’s spin duo of Taijul Islam and MehediHasan are the biggest movers inside the top-30 in the bowlers’ category.
Yasir has returned inside the top-20 in 19th position after climbing twoplaces following his match figures of eight for 163, while Taijul andMehedi have achieved career-high positions. Taijul has moved three placesto 27th following figures of five for 107 and two for 93, while Mehdi hasleaped seven places to 28th following his eight wickets in the match.
Outside the top-30, Zimbabwe’s Kyle Jarvis has risen 19 places to 40th, SriLanka’s Akila Dananjaya is 41st (up by 14 places), Jack Leach of England is43rd (up by 14 places) and Hasan Ali of Pakistan is 44th (up by 24 places).
New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel, who scripted a famous win for his side on hisdebut with match figures of seven for 123, has entered the rankings in 68thspot. The bowlers’ list is headed by James Anderson of England, who hasbecome the oldest bowler to be number-one since Muttiah Muralidaran in July2009.
However, England will be ranked second on the MRF Tyres ICC Test TeamRankings when these are updated following the conclusion of their seriesagainst Sri Lanka in Colombo next week.
England’s 57-run victory in the second Test in Pallekele have given them anunassailable 2-0 lead and with it have also assured them of moving oneplace up to second irrespective of how the third Test pans out.
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If England win the Colombo Test, they will finish on 108 points, two morethan South Africa, while Sri Lanka’s win will mean England will join SouthAfrica on 106 points but will be ranked above the African side by afraction of a point.
A drawn Test will mean England will finish on 107 points – nine pointsbehind number-one ranked India and one point ahead of South Africa – whileSri Lanka will slip to seventh place on 94 points in this scenario afterstarting the series on 97 points.
Meanwhile, there have been plenty of movements in the latest MRF Tyres ICCTest Player Rankings, which incorporates player performances in the AbuDhabi, Mirpur and Pallekele Tests.
In the batting charts, Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim has achieved ahighest-ever position of 18th to date following his double-century againstZimbabwe. From the same match, Zimbabwe’s Brendon Taylor’s two centuries(110 and 106 not out) have lifted him 18 places to 27th position andMahmudullah has moved from 74th to 57th following scores of 36 and 101 notout.
The biggest movers from the Pallekele Test have been Angelo Mathews andRoshen Silva of Sri Lanka, and England’s Ben Foakes. Mathews has returnedto the top-20 in 16th position after jumping five places, Silva is now 53rd(up by 25 places) and Foakes is 54th (up by 15 places) only after two Tests.
The batting table is headed by Virat Kohli of India, followed byAustralia’s Steve Smith, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and England’s JoeRoot, who has collected 19 points following scores of 14 and 124 that alsoearned him the player of the match award. – APP
