Rashid Khan climbs the summit again

DUBAI: Afghanistan’s ground-breaking T20I series victory over Pakistan has proven a boon for a host of their stars with a pair of their bowlers making giant strides on the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings.

It was the first time Afghanistan had beaten Pakistan in a bilateral T20I series and star spinner Rashid Khan was the main beneficiary as he overtook Sri Lankan tweaker Wanindu Hasaranga to become the top ranked T20I bowler in the world once again, says a report on International Cricket Council’s website.

Rashid first claimed top billing as the No 1 ranked T20I bowler back in 2018 and the 24-year-old has been an ultra-consistent performer in the shortest format of the game ever since.

The right-armer collected a wicket in each of the three matches against Pakistan in Sharjah, with his miserly economy rate in both of Afghanistan’s victories during the first two games of the series a standout.

Rashid’s teammate Fazalhaq Farooqi was the standout pacer during the series with a total of five wickets and an economy rate of just 4.75 and the left-armer shot up an eye-catching 12 spots to third overall on the latest rankings update.

It means Afghanistan now have three players inside the top 10 of the T20I category for bowlers, with spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman rounding out the talented trio in eighth spot following his four wickets for the series against Pakistan.

While regular Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was rested for the series and dropped one place to fourth on the T20I batter rankings as a result, stand-in skipper Shadab Khan impressed and was duly rewarded on the latest rankings update.

Shadab improved eight spots to fourth on the T20I all-rounder rankings and jumped six places to 12th overall on the list for bowers, while teammate Mohammad Wasim shot up nine spots to 23rd in the same category.

West Indies’ series victory over South Africa saw a host of their players jump up the T20I rankings list, with beanpole quick Alzarri Joseph improving 17 spots to 33rd overall for bowlers and teammate Johnson Charles jumping a whopping 92 places to 17th for batters.

South Africa duo Rilee Rossouw (up two spots to sixth) and Reeza Hendricks (up eight places to 12th) also made good ground on the T20I rankings for batters in what was a high-scoring and entertaining series.

India’s Suryakumar Yadav lead the batting charts followed by Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and Devon Convoy of New Zealand.

Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan is the top all-rounder in cricket’s shortest format, Hardik Pandya of India is second and Afghanistan’s veteran Mohammad Nabi third.

T20I rankings

Team: 1 India, 267 points; 2 England, 261; 3 South Africa, 255; 4 Pakistan, 254; 5 New Zealand, 252; 6 Australia, 251; 7 West Indies, 237; 8 Sri Lanka, 236; 9 Bangladesh, 227; 10 Afghanistan, 221.

Batters: 1 S Yadav (IND), 906 points; 2 Mohammad Rizwan (PAK), 811; 3 D Conway (NZ), 768; 4 Babar Azam (PAK), 755; 5 A Markram (SA), 748; 6 R Rossouw (SA), 724; 7 Muhammad Waseem (UAE), 716; 8 D Malan (ENG), 705; 9 A Finch (AUS), 680; 10 J Buttler (ENG), 670.

Bowlers: 1 Rashid Khan (AFG), 710 points; 2 Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), 695; 3 Fazalhaq Farooqi (AFG), 692; 4 J Hazlewood (AUS), 690; 5 A Rashid (ENG), 684; 6 A Zampa (AUS), 678; 7 S Curran (ENG), 673; 8 Mujeeb Ur Rahman (AFG), 668; 9 A Nortje (SA), 667; 10 M Santner (NZ), 657.

All-rounders: 1 Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), 265 points; 2 H Pandya (IND), 250; 3 Mohammad Nabi (AFG), 230; 4 Shadab Khan (PAK), 195; 5 Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), 175; 6 JJ Smit (NAM), 174; 7 Sikandar Raza ZIM 173; 8 A Markram (SA), 172; 9 D Wiese (NAM), 170; 10 M Ali (ENG), 168.