An active week in international cricket has reshaped the ICC Men’s ODI rankings, with Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha and Abrar Ahmed making significant gains, while former captain Babar Azam faced a setback.
The updates follow South Africa’s convincing victory over Australia in the first ODI and a brief rankings mix-up involving India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Pakistan’s all-rounder Salman Agha jumped three spots to 40th in the batting rankings, earning 550 points. Emerging spinner Abrar Ahmed also shone, soaring 18 places to 43rd with 502 points in the bowling rankings.
However, Pakistan’s batting stalwart Babar Azam slipped to third place after briefly holding second, due to a corrected ICC error reinstating Rohit Sharma. Mohammad Rizwan dropped to 27th, Fakhar Zaman fell to 28th, and Saim Ayub saw the steepest decline, plummeting 12 spots to 60th with 503 points.
India’s Shubman Gill remains atop the batting rankings with 784 points, followed by Sharma, Azam, Kohli, and New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell. Pakistan’s Imam-ul-Haq, now playing county cricket, slid to 42nd.
In bowling, South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj reclaimed the top spot with a stellar 5 for 33 against Australia, surpassing Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana and India’s Kuldeep Yadav. Pakistan’s bowlers struggled, with Shaheen Afridi falling to 15th, Haris Rauf to 31st, and Naseem Shah to 51st. West Indies’ Jayden Seales climbed 15 places to 18th after a six-wicket haul against Pakistan.
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