Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has risen 21 spots to grab a career-best sixth position in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings after his player of the series performance helped complete a 2-1 victory over the World XI in the Independence Cup series played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The 22-year-old started with a fine innings of 86 and followed it up with two other useful knocks of 45 and 48 to finish as the highest run scorer in the series with 179 runs, eight more than his compatriot Ahmed Shehzad, who has gained nine slots to reach joint-22nd position.
In the latest rankings update, which also takes into account performances in Saturday’s one-off T20I in Durham which the Windies won against England by 21 runs, Shoaib Malik was another Pakistan batsman to gain as his 94 runs in the Lahore series saw him gain four slots to reach 30th position. Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan has gained 32 places to reach 66th rank among bowlers.
As for the World XI, Sri Lanka all-rounder Thisara Perera has gained 16 slots to reach 53rd place among batsmen and has also moved up 13 slots to take 79th position among bowlers, while South Africa batsman Hashim Amla has moved up three places to 12th position.
Windies batsman Evin Lewis’s knock of 51 has helped him gain one spot to reach a career-best third position while his opening partner Chris Gayle’s score of 40 has helped him gain four slots to reach joint-22nd position. Among its bowlers, Carlos Brathwaite (up 17 places to 33rd) and Kesrick Williams (up 12th place to 61st) are the major gainers after taking three wickets each in Durham.
Similarly, England pace bowler Liam Plunkett (up 15 places to 23rd) and leg-spinner Adil Rashid (up 11 places to 28th) have ensured upward movement after their three-wicket hauls.
Meanwhile, the Windies side has overtaken England in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings. The Windies side was in fourth position with 117 points before the match but is now third with 120 points. On the other hand, England has lost four points to slip from second to fourth position with 119 points.
MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings (as on 17 September after the one-off match between England and the Windies):
Rank Team Points
1 New Zealand 125
2 Pakistan 121
3 Windies 120 (+3)
4 England 119 (-4)
5 India 116
6 South Africa 110
7 Australia 110
8 Sri Lanka 93
9 Afghanistan 86
10 Bangladesh 78
11 Scotland 67
12 Zimbabwe 65
13 UAE 52
14 Netherlands 49
15 Hong Kong 46
16 PNG 39
17 Oman 38
18 Ireland 36
MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings (as on 17 September, after the Pakistan v World XI series and England v Windies one-off match):
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/R Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 826 53.82 136 897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014
2 ( - ) Aaron Finch Aus 787 38.64 149 892 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
3 (+1) Evin Lewis WI 780*! 36.00 155 780 v Eng at Emirates Riverside 2017
4 (-1) Kane Williamson NZ 745 36.29 123 760 v Ban at Napier 2017
5 ( - ) Glenn Maxwell Aus 718 29.35 167 763 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016
6 (+21) Babar Azam Pak 713*! 54.00 126 713 v ROW at Lahore 2017
7 ( - ) Alex Hales Eng 690 32.92 135 866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014
8 (-2) Joe Root Eng 683 39.10 129 750 v WI at Kolkata 2016
9 (-1) M. Shahzad Afg 664 32.34 137 706 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
10= ( - ) H. Masakadza Zim 657 29.43 120 699 v Ban at Khulna 2016
(-2) Faf du Plessis SA 657 36.09 133 843 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/R Highest Rating
12 (+3) Hashim Amla SA 651 33.97 131 657 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
22= (+4) Chris Gayle WI 559 35.04 145 831 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012
(+9) Ahmed Shehzad Pak 559 26.61 117 709 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
30 (+4) Shoaib Malik Pak 529 28.65 117 577 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
53 (+16) Thisara Perera SL 449! 23.78 150 449 v Pak at Lahore 2017
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Imad Wasim Pak 742 18.72 5.92 780 v WI at Trinidad 2017
2 (+1) Jasprit Bumrah Ind 737 18.38 6.70 764 v Eng at Bengaluru 2017
3 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 719 15.85 6.80 795 v NZ at Auckland 2017
4 ( - ) Rashid Khan Afg 717! 14.35 5.91 717 v WI at St Kitts 2017
5 (+1) M. Rahman Ban 695*! 14.92 6.16 695 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
6 (-1) Samuel Badree WI 694 17.59 5.79 855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
7 ( - ) James Faulkner Aus 688! 19.00 7.96 688 v SL at Adelaide 2017
8 ( - ) Sunil Narine WI 676 20.68 6.02 817 v Pak at St. Vincent 2013
9 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 648 20.82 6.78 672 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
10= ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 626 22.94 6.97 765 v SL at Visakhapatnam 2016
( - ) M. Naveed UAE 626 17.27 6.06 632 v Afg at Dubai (GCA) 2016
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
23 (+15) Liam Plunkett Eng 560*! 20.15 7.38 560 v WI at Emirates Riverside 2017
28 (+11) Adil Rashid Eng 547 30.10 7.83 561 v Ind at Nagpur 2017
33 (+17) C. Brathwaite WI 532*! 28.00 8.26 532 v Eng at Emirates Riverside 2017
61 (+12) Kesrick Williams WI 440*! 12.31 6.59 440 v Eng at Emirates Riverside 2017
66= (+32) Shadab Khan Pak 427*! 14.50 6.48 427 v ROW at Lahore 2017
79 (+13) Thisara Perera SL 386 27.57 9.14 462 v Pak at Colombo (RPS) 2015
80= (+20) Morne Morkel SA 382 25.34 7.50 646 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 354 408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
2 ( - ) Glenn Maxwell Aus 344 388 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016
3 ( - ) M. Nabi Afg 275 286 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
4 (-1) Marlon Samuels WI 270 321 v SL at Mirpur 2014
5 ( - ) Mahmudullah Ban 203! 203 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
What has the great game come to!
