Adil Rashid Grabs No. 1 Bowler Position, Babar Azam Is Back As Top Batter

England spinner Adil Rashid has moved up two slots to grab the number one position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after consistent performances in the five-match series against the West Indies which is level at 2-2 with one match to go

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Dec, 2023) England spinner Adil Rashid has moved up two slots to grab the number one position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after consistent performances in the five-match series against the West Indies which is level at 2-2 with one match to go.

Rashid grabbed five wickets in the three matches played over the past week to move to the top of the bowlers’ list for the first time in his career, overtaking other leg-spinners Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Ravi Bishnoi of India. Rashid’s previous best was second position that he last occupied in September 2023.

Left-arm wrist spinners Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa and Kuldeep Yadav of India are among the others to advance. Shamsi has moved into the top 10 while Yadav’s five-wicket haul in the third and final match of the series against South Africa in Johannesburg has lifted him 13 places to 24th position.

South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj (up five places to 19th) and India fast bowler Mohammad Siraj (up 37 places to 69th) are among others to move up after the latest weekly rankings update.

In the rankings for batters, West Indies opener Brandon King, who scored a match-winning 82 not out off 52 deliveries in the second match of the series, has gained six slots to reach a career-best sixth position while Nicholas Pooran (up two places to 12th) and Rovman Powell (up14 places to 23rd) have also progressed.

England’s Phil Salt has galloped to 20th position and India’s Yashaswi Jaiswal has moved to 14th position in the list led by his team-mate Suryakumar Yadav.

In the ODI Rankings, Babar Azam is back as the number one batter after Shubman Gill did not figure in the ODIs against South Africa, even as Ireland players were in the limelight after their 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe.

Harry Tector (up one place seventh) and Curtis Campher (up 19 places to 73rd) moved up the batting rankings while Mark Adair (up nine places to 24th), Andy McBrine (up two places to 27th) and Joshua Little (up 28 places to 34th) have all gained in the latest update.

KL Rahul (up two places to 16th) has also moved up the batting rankings while New Zealand’s Trent Boult (up one place to seventh) and Bangladesh’s Shoriful islam (up 14 places to 59th) have progressed in the bowling rankings.

The latest update to the Test rankings sees Australia opener David Warner move up nine slots to 27th after scoring 164 in the first innings of the first Test against Pakistan while Usman Khawaja’s scores of 41 and 90 have lifted him three places to fourth. Opener Imam Ul Haq (up one place to 29th) and Agha Salman (up two places to 32nd) are the Pakistan batters to advance.