Saim Ayub and Naseem Shah see massive boost in ODI rankings

WEB DESK: The International Cricket Council (ICC) released their latest set of ODI rankings on Wednesday. Out of Pakistan’s players, Saim Ayub and Naseem Shah saw the biggest boost in ranking, with the two rising 57 and 10 places respectively.

BATTERS RANKINGS

Pakistan’s Babar Azam remains at the top spot of ODI batters, despite losing 5 points, putting him at a score of 795. After only scoring 23 runs in the first ODI against South Africa, Babar would score a half century in both of the next two matches, helping Pakistan to become the first team ever to whitewash South Africa on their home ground.

Fakhar Zaman has dropped one place to 17th. The Pakistani batters last stint in ODIs came in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. While he was dismissed for only one run in his last outing against England, Fakhar scored a century against New Zealand the game prior.

Mohammad Rizwan rose three places to be tied for 21st with compatriot Imam-ul-Haq, who dropped one place. The Pakistan white ball skipper had a rough start in the series against South Africa, as he was dismissed for only one run in the first match. However, like Babar, he would come back to score a half century in both of the next two matches. Imam-ul-Haq’s last outing in ODIs came in 2023’s world cup. His best performance in that stint was the 70 runs he scored against Australia.

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Saim Ayub saw the highest boost in ranking, jumping 57 places to take a spot next to Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis, as the two are tied for 23rd on the list. Ayub has only played nine ODI matches to this point, and has already shown how effective he can be with the bat. Since his first ODI against Australia in early November, the 22-year-old has made three centuries, with his high score of 113 coming in the second ODI against Zimbabwe. Ayub made his other two centuries in the most recent series against South Africa.

BOWLERS RANKINGS

Shaheen Shah Afridi fell one place and is now ranked third with a rating of 662. His most recent ODI stint came in the series against South Africa, in which he was the top wicket taker, dismissing seven batters across the three matches. His best performance came in the second ODI, in which he took four wickets.

The next highest ranked Pakistani bowler is Haris Rauf, who fell one place to 16th. Rauf struggled in the two matches he played against South Africa. In his first outing, he conceded 42 runs in the seven overs he bowled without taking a single wicket. In the second match, he fared a bit better, only conceding 33 runs in the eight overs he bowled. However, he still wasn’t able to take a wicket.

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Naseem Shah rose ten places and is now ranked 51st, after the 21-year-old took five wickets against South Africa. After struggling in the first match, conceding 40 runs in the six overs he bowled without taking a wicket, Naseem took a combined five wickets in the next two matches. His best performance came in the second match, when he dismissed three batters while conceding 37 runs.

Mohammad Wasim dropped nine places and is now ranked 61st. His last outing came in the 2023 World Cup, in which he took 10 wickets across the five matches he played.  

Abrar Ahmed broke into the top 100, occupying the last spot alongside the West Indies’ Matthew Forde. Abrar took two wickets in each of the two games he played against South Africa.

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