Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Three of the world’s top five bowlers will turn out in the three T20Is, World XI captain Faf du Plessis top-ranked batsman from either side Several leading players from the world over will get a chance to enhance their Twenty20 International rankings in the upcoming three-match Independence Cup series against Pakistan to be played under lights at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on September 12, 13 and 15. The Faf du Plessis-led World XI side has five players from South Africa and also a selection of big names from six other Test playing countries in a series that has been given T20I status and hence performances will count in the calculation of individual rankings.

Not surprisingly, the high-profile T20I series brings together several top-level competitors including three of the top five bowlers in the ICC T20I Players Rankings getting to display their wares. Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Imad Wasim leads the T20I rankings table for bowlers while two former number-one bowlers feature in the World XI side. Imad is way ahead of others at a career-best 780 points as of now, but leg-spinners Imran Tahir of South Africa and Samuel Badree of the West Indies, currently in second and fifth places, respectively, will also be eyeing the opportunity of doing well for the World XI and moving up the rankings. Tahir is presently on 744 points while Badree is on 714 points.

Tahir has spent 269 days as the top-ranked T20I bowler from September 2016 to June 2017 while Badree has spent most time at the top with a total of 785 days. He reached the top for the first time in March 2014 while his most recent stint as the top-ranked bowler was in September 2016. In the rankings for batsmen, du Plessis is the top-ranked player from either side at eighth position while his compatriot Hashim Amla (15th) and Bangladesh’s left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal (41st) are the other prominent names in terms of rankings for the visiting side. Babar Azam (27th) and Shoaib Malik (34th) are the leading batsmen for the home side.

ICC T20I Player Rankings

Top 10 Batsmen

1: Virat Kohli (India)

2: Aaron Finch (Australia)

3: Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

4: Evin Lewis (West Indies)

5: Glenn Maxwell (Australia)

6: Joe Root (England)

7: Alex Hales (England)

8: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)

8: M Shahzad (Afghanistan)

10: H Masakadza (Zimbabwe)

Other selected rankings

15: Hashim Amla (South Africa)

27: Babar Azam (Pakistan)

34: Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

41: Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

69: T Perera (Sri Lanka)

Top 10 Bowlers

1: Imad Wasim (Pakistan)

2: Imran Tahir (South Africa)

3: Jasprit Bumrah (India)

4: Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

5: Samuel Badree (West Indies)

6: M Rahman (Bangladesh)

7: J Faulkner (Australia)

8: Sunil Narine (West Indies)

9: Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

10: R Ashwin (India)

10: M Naveed (UAE)

Other selected rankings

60: M Amir (Pakistan)

79: Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

92: Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka)

Top 05 All-rounders

1: S Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

2: Glenn Maxwell (Australia)

3: M Samuels (West Indies)

4: M Nabi (Afghanistan)

5: Mahmudullah (Bangladesh)

Published in Daily Times, September 12^th 2017.