Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has attained a career-best second position in the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings after smashing back-to-back centuries in the first two ODIs of their ongoing five-match series against New Zealand. The left-hander’s scores of 117 and 180 not out earned him Player of the Match awards in both ODIs and have helped him progress eight places in the list led by Babar Azam. Fakhar’s previous best was seventh position attained in April 2021. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan is another Pakistan batter to move up the rankings – from 64th to 58th position – after notching up unbeaten knocks of 42 and 54, while fast bowler Haris Rauf has advanced 12 slots to 51st position after his hauls of two for 65 and four for 78.

New Zealand batters Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell too have made significant progress. Latham is up three places to 29th after scoring 20 and 98 in the two matches, while Mitchell’s two centuries have lifted him 57 places to 51st in the rankings. In other movements on the ODI rankings table, Muhammad Waseem of the United Arab Emirates has moved up three places to 62nd among batters after scoring 48 against Oman in the semifinal of the Asian Cricket Council Men’s Premier Cup in Mulpani, Nepal. Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood has advanced six places to 43rd among bowlers and three places to fifth among all-rounders after grabbing four for 32 and scoring 40 in that match. Oman’s left-arm seamer Bilal Khan has moved from 36th to 33th after his four-wicket haul.

In the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, Sri Lanka players have made significant progress after completing a 2-0 series win over Ireland in Galle. Angelo Mathews has inched up one place to 22nd after scoring 100 not out, Kusal Mendis is up three places to 39th after top-scoring with 245 while opener Nishan Madushka’s knock of 205 puts him in 102nd position in the batting rankings. Prabath Jayasuriya is up six places to 13th in the bowling rankings after picking up seven scalps in the match while other spinner Ramesh Mendis is up 10 places to 22nd following his six-wicket match haul. Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie’s scores of 95 and 46 have lifted him 29 places to 93rd while Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker have also progressed.