Dubai: Pakistani star Shaheen Shah Afridi has risen to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s ODI bowling rankings.
Afridi, who took eight wickets at an impressive average of 12.62 in Pakistan’s historic ODI series win over Australia, has moved up three places past South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj, who has dropped to third. Afghan Rashid Khan maintained second place.
Afridi had earlier briefly held the top spot during the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.
His bowling partner, Haris Rauf, also made significant progress, moving up 14 places to secure 13th place – a career-high ranking in this format – after being named man of the series in Pakistan’s 2-1 win over Australia.
Meanwhile, Naseem Shah also reached a new career peak, climbing 14 places to join No. 55 in the world rankings.
Following Afridi’s rise to the top, the top-ranked players in both the batting and bowling rankings are now from Pakistan as star batsman Babar Azam continues his dominance.
The right-handed batsman extended his lead over India’s Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, respectively, thanks to his 80 runs in three matches against Australia, in which he was dismissed just once.
Newly appointed Pakistani white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan also made gains as he jumped two places to 23rd in the ODI batting rankings after 74 runs in three innings against Australia.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan veteran Mohammad Nabi, who is set to end his glittering ODI career, remains at the top of the overall rankings.
He is followed on the list by Zimbabwean Sikandar Reda and his compatriot Rashid.