Daily Times

DUBAI: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam maintained a healthy lead at the top of the ODI batting rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.

In the rankings, there are a group of South Africa players who have made good ground on the prolific right-hander. Heinrich Klaasen rises 13 spots to 30th after he hit a brilliant century in the Proteas’ impressive victory over the West Indies in the third and final match of the series in Potchefstroom, while Temba Bavuma improves 17 places to 33rd following his big knock in the second game in East London.

While Babar Azam remains well out in front with 890 rating points, the Pakistan captain now has South African duo Rassie van der Dussen (789) and Quinton de Kock (784) as his two closest challengers.

Imam has 779 rating points, while New Zealand captain Kane Williamson appears in the list for batters once again at 11th place after he made a successful return to 50-over cricket against the West Indies.

Two players in arguably the best form of their life also made good ground on the latest list for ODI batters, with Zimbabwe veteran Sikandar Raza and emerging India star Shubman Gill catching the eye on the updated rankings.

Raza added yet another ODI century to his resume in the third ODI match of the series against India and was duly rewarded with a four-spot jump to equal 25th on the rankings for batters.

Gill’s jump was even more emphatic, with the 22-year-old rising a whopping 93 places to 38th after he finished as the leading run-scorer during that series with 245 runs.

Meanwhile, the match-winning exploits of South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada against England at Lord’s have been rewarded as the pace spearhead made giant strides on the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings.

Rabada was at his brilliant best during the Proteas’ emphatic victory over England at the iconic North London ground with the towering right-armer adding his name to the Honours Board at Lord’s for the first time and collecting seven wickets for the match in devastating style.

Not only did his efforts help South Africa maintain their lead at the head of the World Test Championship standings, but it also saw the 27-year-old jump two places to third overall on the latest Test bowler rankings.

A host of South African players were big winners due to their dominant display at the Home of Cricket.

Fellow pacer Anrich Nortje terrorised the England batters with six wickets for the match and he rose 14 places to 25th overall on the latest rankings for bowlers.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins (891 rating points) and India veteran Ravi Ashwin (842) still lead the way on the list for bowlers, but Rabada (836) is making his move courtesy of his 12th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. South Africa captain Dean Elgar jumped one place to 13th overall on the Test batter rankings, while compatriot Marco Jensen rose 17 spots to 17th on the all-rounder list.

The second place retained by South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen while Pakistani batter Imamul Haq jumped one place to secure third place. Quinton de Kock has been ranked fourth while Shubman Gill is at the fifth place. India pacer Mohammed Siraj copped the brunt of the attack by Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head during the second match of his side’s ODI series with Australia and as a result has lost his place at the top of the rankings for ODI bowlers.

Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood – who is absent from the ongoing series in India – re-claims pole position ahead of New Zealand left-armer Trent Boult, with Siraj dropping into a tie for third with in-form quick Mitchell Starc, ICC said in its press release.

West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph jumps to a career-high rating and 11th place on the ODI bowling rankings following a strong series against South Africa, while teammate Akeal Hosein (up four spots to 20th) is another big mover. The top place in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings is held by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne. New Zealand’s batter Kane Williamson rose to the second place.

It means Steve Smith (third), Joe Root (fourth), Babar Azam (fifth) and Travis Head (sixth) all drop one place, while Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (10th) takes the spot of India captain Rohit Sharma inside the top 10 after he scored three half-centuries in the series against New Zealand.