Dubai: In a major change in the International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s ODI bowling rankings, Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi has been ousted from the top spot by Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
The latest rankings, released on Wednesday, show South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj holding steady in third place.
However, Afridi, who rose to the top spot after a stellar performance with eight wickets at an average of 12.62 during Pakistan’s historic ODI series win over Australia, has been rested during the ongoing series against Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, his bowling partner Haris Rauf, who was instrumental in the 2-1 win over Australia and was named Player of the Series, has dropped two places to 15th.
Emerging opener Saim Ayyub, who scored a blistering century in Pakistan’s 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the second ODI of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday, jumped 80 places to 90th in the men’s ODI batting rankings, continuing to lead star batsman Babar Azam.
On the other hand, Indian right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah regained the top spot in the Test bowling rankings after leading his team to a historic 295-run win over Australia in the opening Test of the five-match series in Perth on Monday.
The right-arm pacer’s match figures of 8/72 helped him leapfrog Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada to claim first place with a career-best 883 PIR – the highest by an Indian player in this format.
Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (904) and Ravindra Jadeja (899) are the only other players from the country to score rating points higher than Bumrah’s 833.
This is the third time this year that Jasprit Bumrah has secured the top spot in the Test rankings, the previous instances being his one-month spells during February and October.
On the batting front, Indian pacers Yashavi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli, who scored impressive centuries in their team’s come-from-behind win, also made gains.
Jaiswal replaced England’s Harry Brook and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson to reach a career-best second position, behind only Joe Root, while Kohli jumped nine places to 13th in the rankings.