DUBAI: Pakistan cricket stars Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi have faced setbacks in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Rankings released on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan dropped five places to 27th in the batting rankings, while left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi slipped two spots to 15th among bowlers.
On the positive side, vice-captain Salman Ali Agha climbed three places, reaching 40th with 550 points in batting. Star batter Babar Azam also bounced back to reclaim the No.2 spot, just behind India’s Shubman Gill, who continues to lead the batting charts. New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell holds third place.
However, rising opener Saim Ayub endured the steepest decline, falling 12 places to 60th with 503 points. Among other Pakistani batters, Fakhar Zaman slipped one place to 28th, while Imam-ul-Haq, currently representing Yorkshire in the One-Day Cup, dropped three spots to 42nd.
In the bowling department, Pakistan faced more struggles. Haris Rauf dropped to 31st, Naseem Shah slipped to 51st, while all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim Jr. each fell three places, ranking 78th and 87th respectively.
The only major boost came from spinner Abrar Ahmed, who surged 18 places to 43rd with 502 points after impressive recent performances.
At the very top, South African spinner Keshav Maharaj became the new No.1 ODI bowler following his match-winning five-wicket haul against Australia. He overtook Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana and India’s Kuldeep Yadav to secure the top spot.