Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen move up in latest ICC Test rankings

Pakistan’s trio of Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi have improved their rankings in the latest ICC Test rankings.

Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam, despite having a dry run in the red-ball format, climbed up one place to 11th in the latest ICC Test rankings for batters.

He now has 712 rating points - eight points short of number 10 Marnus Labuschagne of Australia.

Babar, who is the ranking leader in the ODI rankings, had dropped out of the top 10 in the Test rankings last week for the first time in almost five years.

The right-handed batter was placed 9th before the second Bangladesh Test, but dropped three places to 12th, after a poor string of scores in the home series.

Babar has not managed a half-century in his last 16 Test innings.

Meanwhile, wicketkeeper batter Mohammed Rizwan has also moved one place up to the 9th with 720 rating points.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s two middle-order batters Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha saw a decline in Test rankings.

Saud dropped to 21st place with 661 rating points, while Agha fell to 32nd place with 606 points.

England’s Joe Root holds on to his spot as the No.1 ranked Test batter despite scores of just 13 and 12 at The Oval, although the right-hander does see his rating fall from 922 rating points to 899 and allows the likes of New Zealand duo Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell and Australia’s Steve Smith to draw closer.

Test rankings for bowlers

Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has returned to the top 10 in bowlers’ Test rankings. He is now placed 10th with 709 rating points.

Sri Lankan bowlers Lahiru Kumara and Milan Rathnayake have also seen improvements on the back of their thumping win in the third Test against England. They are now placed 32nd and 84th places respectively.

England’s Olly Stone has risen to 74th following his three wickets in the first innings against Sri Lanka.

Ravichandran Ashwin of India continues to lead the Test bowling rankings with 870 rating points, followed closely by Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and Jasprit Bumrah, who share the second spot with 847 rating points each.