The International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings saw a significant rise in the ranking of Pakistan’s left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi.
The leader of Pakistan’s pace attack, Shaheen Shah Afridi, rose nine spots to the top of the ICC ODI rankings as a result of his strong performance in the current ICC World Cup 2023.
Along with Australia’s leg spinner Adam Zampa, he has shared the tournament record for most wickets taken (16 wickets apiece).
He took three more wickets yesterday as Pakistan defeated Bangladesh seven wickets to the north in Kolkata, keeping his team in the running for the ICC World Cup 2023 semi-final.
During the match against Bangladesh, Shaheen Afridi also set a new record for fastest bowler to 100 wickets in One-Day International cricket. He broke the previous record-holder Mitchell Starc, who gave up 52 innings, in 51 innings.
“Shuffling the Rankings: Shaheen Afridi’s Ascent, Babar Azam’s Lead, and More in ICC Rankings”
In the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings, Shaheen Afridi passed players like Josh Hazlewood of Australia (ranked second), Mohammed Siraj of India (ranked third), and Keshav Maharaj of South Africa (ranked fourth), who dropped a spot as a result of his impressive leap.
For the first time, he holds the top spot in any format. Meanwhile, in the ICC ODI Batting Rankings, his colleague and Pakistan’s captain, Babar Azam, has held onto the top spot by the slimmest of margins.
With 818 rating points, Babar Azam is still in first place, but Shubman Gill, an Indian right-handed hitter, is ranked second, separated by just two rating points.
In the ICC World Cup 2023, Azam has amassed 216 runs from seven innings, compared to Shubman Gill’s meagre 104 runs from four innings.
Furthermore, David Warner, the opening batsman for Australia and the second-highest run scorer in the ICC World Cup 2023, moved up one spot to fourth. Warner has a 68.83 average with 413 runs scored in six innings.
At the ICC World Cup 2023, Scott Edwards, the captain of the Netherlands, also achieved a significant jump of 11 spots to tie for 16th place after amassing 204 runs in six innings.
In the ICC all-rounders rankings, teenage player Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand rose 14 ranks to 17th place, while South Africa’s Marco Jansen went up two spaces to ninth.