ICC rankings: Noman and Sajid rise while Masood falls

MULTAN: Following the two match test series against the West Indies, in which Pakistan won the first before losing the second in dramatic fashion, a new set of ICC rankings were released. This is how Pakistan’s players stack up in the test format.

Noman Ali and Sajid Khan both rose in the test bowler rankings. Noman rose four spots from ninth to fifth, and now has a rating of 806. Sajid rose two spots from 23rd to 21st, and now has a rating of 644. The two dominated in the first test against The Windies, as Noman took a total of six wickets, including five in the first innings, while Sajid took an incredible nine, including five in the second innings. The two continued their excellence in the second test, as Noman took a total of ten wickets, with six in the first innings, while Sajid took six, with four in the second innings. Despite their bowling efforts, Pakistan lost due to some poor batting.

And the drops in the rankings reflect such.

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Skipper Shan Masood fell seven places in the test batting rankings from 42nd to 49th, and now has a rating of 542. In the first test he struggled in the first innings, as he was dismissed after scoring only 11 runs. However, he scored a much needed half century in the second innings, helping Pakistan to win the first test. But, in the second test, there was no silver lining to his performance. He struggled in the first, scoring 15 runs, and did even worse in the second, scoring only two.

Babar Azam’s ranking dropped as well from 16th to 19th, and he now has a rating of 651. The number one ranked ODI batter performed poorly in both matches, scoring a total of 13 runs in the first test and a total of 32 runs in the second.  

While Masood and Babar dropped in the rankings, Mohammad Rizwan rose. Rizwan rose two places from 17th to 15th and now has a rating of 671. In the first test he performed well in the first innings, scoring 71 runs. However, he struggled in the second innings, scoring only 2 runs. In the second test, Rizwan scored a total of 74 runs, including 49 in the first innings.

Saud Shakeel dropped one place, from eight to ninth and is now tied with Rishabh Pant. He currently has a rating of 739. Shakeel had a fantastic knock in the first innings of the first test, scoring 84 runs. But, he only scored two in the second innings. Shakeel Scored 45 runs total in the second test.

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Salman Agha fell five places from 37th to 32nd, and currently has a rating of 592. He scored a combined 16 runs in the first test and a combined 24 in the second.

Kamran Ghulam remains at 87th, with a rating of 389. Abrar Ahmed rose two ranks in the bowling rankings and is now placed 50th with a rating of 409. He took five wickets in the first test, including four in the second innings, and a total of two in the second test.