Babar Azam Loses Top Position In ICC Men’s T20I Player Ranking For Batting

(@fidahassanain)

Babar Azam loses top position in ICC Men’s T20I Player Ranking for batting

England Batsman Dawid Malan has replaced Babar Azam who held the position as No.1 player  for 22 months.

LAHORE: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Sept 9th, 2020) Pakistan limited-over Captain Babar Azam dropped from No. 1 position in ICC Men’s T201 Player Rankings for batting, the latest reports said on Wednesday.

Babar Azam remained at the top position of ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for 22 months.

According to ICC media reports, England batsman Dawid Malan has seized the No.1 position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after a fruitful home series against Australia, which England won 2-1.

The 33-year-old left-hander has progressed four places after a series-topping run aggregate of 129, which included a player of the match effort of 66 in the first fixture. Malan, whose previous best ranking was second in November last year, was now eight rating points ahead of Pakistan’s Babar Azam.

Malan’s teammates Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have also made headway in Wednesday’s update. Bairstow has gained three slots to reach a career-best 19th position after scoring 72 runs in the series while Buttler has moved from 40th to 28th after scoring 121 runs in two matches, which also won him the player of the series award.

For Australia, captain Aaron Finch’s 125 runs in the series have helped him retain third position. Glenn Maxwell also holds on to his sixth position among batsmen while gaining one slot to reach second position in the list of all-rounders led by Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.

England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has gained two slots to reach seventh position after finishing as the most successful bowler in the series with six wickets, while Australia left-arm spinner Ashton Agar’s five wickets have enabled him retain third position, behind the Afghanistan spin pair of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Australia fast bowler Kane Richardson has moved into the top 10 for the first time in his career after taking three wickets in the series while his compatriot Mitchell Starc (up seven places to 18th) and England’s Mark Wood (up 41 places to 79th) have also made notable gains.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.