Saud Shakeel skyrockets in ICC test rankings: All major updates

WEB DESK: New test rankings were revealed by the ICC on Wednesday, in which Saud Shakeel received the largest boost among batters, and Noman Ali topped Pakistani bowlers.

Pakistan is ranked 7th among Men’s Test Teams with a rating of 86. Australia is ranked first with a rating of 124. India follows closely behind with a rating of 121. South Africa and England are third and fourth respectively, with only a point between them as they sit with a rating of 104 and 103.

BATTING

Shakeel’s newest ranking has him placed at seventh, with a rating of 724. It is a 20-place jump from his previous ranking, which was revealed earlier this month, which had him placed at 27. It is his new career high, with his previous best being 14^th.

Babar Azam gained a place thanks to a decrease in rankings from a few Indian players. He currently sits at 18^th place, previously being ranked at 19^th, with his career best coming in 2022 when he was ranked second. His current rating is 670.

Both Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan dropped placed. Agha, who was dismissed for only one run in the 3^rd test against England, but did make one century and two fifties across the three contests, dropped six places to be tied for 20^th with India’s Shubman Gill. Agha’s current rating is 662. Mohammad Rizwan dropped one place, landing at 22^nd, with a rating of 661.

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Test skipper Shan Masood gained five places, putting him at 57^th with a rating of 500. Kamran Ghulam who made his test debut in the second test against England in their latest series, is now ranked 74^th. He dropped four places and now has a rating fo 410.

Abdullah Shafique dropped three places, and is now placed at 46^th with a rating of 541, and in his previous spot is Imam-Ul-Haq with a rating of 555. Saim Ayub and Aamer Jamal barely made it into the top 100, with a ranking of 91 and 94 respectively.

Joe Root still occupies the throne with a rating of 903, while teammate Harry Brook dropped one place to 4^th with a rating of 778. Yashavi Jaiswal took his place and now occupies the third slot, while New Zealand’s Kane Williamson is second. Ben Duckett fell one place to 12^th and has a rating of 701.

Virat Kohli fell six places and now occupies the 14^th slot, with a rating of 688.

BOWLING

Noman Ali jumped eight places after his incredible performance against England in the final two tests. He was the top wicket taker of the series, dismissing 20 English batsmen, despite not competing in the first game. He currently sits at ninth place with a rating of 759.

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Sajid Khan, who was the second lead wicket taker of the last series against England, dismissing 19 batsmen despite not competing in the first game, jumped twelve places to take the 38^th place slot. He currently has a rating of 520.

Naseem Shah is right below him with a rating of 517, after falling two places. Shaheen Afridi also fell one place to 15^th, with a rating of 667. Both players were dropped in the series against England after the first test. Hasan Ali is ranked 36^th with a rating of 524.

Abrar Ahmed and Khurram Shahzad sit right next to each other on the rankings, with the former landing at 56^th, while the latter sits at 57^th. Close behind the two is Aamer Jamal, who dropped eight places and is now tied for 64^th.

Mir Hamza is ranked 85^th, with Faheem Ashraf two places below him. And two places below Ashraf is Zahid Mehmood, followed closely behind by Salman Agha ranked at 91^st.

South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada is the new king of test bowlers after his incredible performance in the first test against Bangladesh, in which he had a six-wicket haul in Bangladesh’s second innings, and took a total of nine. His first wicket of that contest was the 300^th of his test career, a milestone he reached in record time. Rabada currently has a rating of 860.

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Jasprit Bumrah and Ravinchandran Ashwin both fell two places and are now ranked third and fourth respectively, after India lost a test series at home for the first time ever. New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, who ravaged India in the second test, taking a seven-wicket haul in their first innings, and another six in their second, jumped 30 places to now be ranked at 44^th with a rating of 458.