Dubai . Pakistan's leading fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has regained the No. 1 spot in the ICC men's ODI bowler rankings, a position he achieved during the Cricket World Cup in India last year.
Afridi's recent performances in Pakistan's victorious series against Australia helped him reach the top spot once again, where he took eight wickets in three matches at an impressive average of 12.62.
Afridi's rise comes as part of a reshuffle in the rankings, with South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj slipping to third and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan remaining at second.
Afridi's dominance on the field, coupled with Pakistan captain Babar Azam's leading position in the ODI batting rankings, makes Pakistan the only team to have a No. 1 ranked player in both ODI batting and bowling.
Babar, who scored 80 runs with just one out against Australia, continues to be the top batsman. Afridi was not the only Pakistani bowler who progressed. Haris Rauf moved up the rankings to a careerbest 13th position after a Player of the Series performance by taking 10 wickets against Australia. Naseem Shah also achieved a new career high, climbing 14 places to reach 55th position.
Additionally, Pakistan's new ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan moved up to 23rd in the batting charts after the series against Australia. Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto moved up 11 places to 23rd among ODI batsmen, while Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai improved his position to 31st.
On the ODI bowling front, West Indies' Gudakesh Moti and Bangladesh's Mehidy Hasan Miraz gained ground, with Mehidy climbing nine places to 23rd.
In the T20 rankings, England's Phil Salt and Jos Buttler have moved up to second and sixth positions respectively among batsmen after impressive performances against the West Indies. South Africa's Reeza Hendricks and Tristan Stubbs made notable gains in the T20 batting rankings during their ongoing series with India, with Stubbs moving up 12 places to 26th.
The T20 bowling rankings also saw a change, with Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga moving up to second place behind England's Adil Rashid. West Indies' Akeal Hosein and India's Ravi Bishnoi moved up to third and seventh respectively. New Zealand's Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson, England's Jofra Archer and Sri Lanka's Mathisha Pathirana all made progress, especially Pathirana, who moved up 22 places to 31st.
In the list of allrounders, England's Liam Livingstone has retained his top position in T20 Internationals, while Hasaranga has moved to fifth and West Indies' Romario Shepherd has moved to eighth.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.