Daily Times

Pakistan’s cricket star Babar Azam has once again ascended to the top of the ICC Men’s ODI Rankings, reclaiming the No 1 spot with 809 rating points, as per the latest update released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Babar Azam’s return to the top comes after a dominant run of performances, reaffirming his position as one of the world’s premier batsmen.

Following him in the rankings are India’s Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli, who occupy the second, third, and fourth spots, respectively. Ireland’s Harry Tector rounds off the top five. Meanwhile, in the bowling rankings, Shaheen Afridi has dropped one place to settle at No 2. No other Pakistani bowler is currently in the top 10, with Haris Rauf slipping two places to No 15.

Separately, India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has regained the top spot in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings after leading his team to a resounding 295-run victory over Australia in the first match of their ICC World Test Championship series in Perth.

Bumrah’s hauls of five for 30 and three for 42 have helped him overtake Josh Hazlewood and Kagiso Rabada and reach a career-best 883 rating points, the highest rating points tally ever by an India seam bowler. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (904) and Ravindra Jadeja (899) are the only bowlers from India to record higher point tallies.

This is the third time that Bumrah has been top of the rankings this year. He was top ranked for two one-month stretches each starting in February and October.

India’s huge victory in the first of five Tests is reflected in gains for several other players including centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli.

Opener Jaiswal has overtaken Harry Brook and Kane Williamson to reach a career-best second position after top-scoring in Perth with 161 in the second innings while Kohli’s unbeaten 100 has lifted him nine spots to 13th position after being outside the top 20 batters for the first time in 10 years.

KL Rahul has advanced from 60th to 49th position and Nitish Kumar Reddy has entered the batting rankings in 74th position while Mohammad Siraj has moved up three spots to 25th position in the bowling rankings.

Australia batter Travis Head is back in the top 10 after notching a fighting 89 in the second innings while Alex Carey (up one place to 39th among batters) and Mitchell Marsh (up 10 places to 68th among bowlers) are among others to progress after their performances in Perth. Steve Smith, who could only manage zero and 17, has slid down to seventh place, his lowest position since December 2014.

Players from the West Indies too have gained in the latest weekly update after their 201-run victory in the first Test against Bangladesh at North Sound.

Batter Alick Athanaze has moved up 18 places to 62nd position after scores of 90 and 42 while Justin Greaves (up 43 places to 81st) and Mikyle Louis (up 25 places to joint-86th) have also gained.

West Indies seamers Jayden Seales (up three places to a career-best 11th), Kemar Roach (up four places to 17th) and Alzarri Joseph (up three places to 29th) have all been rewarded for their efforts in Antigua.

For Bangladesh, Liton Das and Mominul Haque have inched up a slot each to 32nd and 47th positions, respectively, in the batting rankings while fast bowler Taskin Ahmed’s second innings haul of six for 64 has lifted him from 67th to 51st position.

In the ODI bowling rankings, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has regained the top spot after Shaheen Shah Afridi was rested by Pakistan for their Zimbabwe tour.

Pakistan opener Saim Ayub’s 62-ball 113 not out has lifted him 80 places to 90th position in the ODI batting rankings. India’s victory in the Perth Test sees the two-time finalists once again reach the top of the ICC World Test Championship table with 61.11 percentage points. Australia are back in second position with 57.69 percentage points.