Babar Azam Keeps Top Spot As England And Pakistan Players Zoom Up In T20I Rankings

Pakistan and England players made massive gains following the drawn T20I series between the two sides in Manchester. England and Pakistan battled in a close three-match rubber wherein the first T20I resulted in abandonment due to rains. England chased down 196 in the second clash to win by five wickets while the visitors prevailed by five runs in the final one.

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Pakistan skipper Babar Azam maintained the top spot in the batsmen’s rankings after 67 runs in two games while Mohammad Hafeez’s 155 runs enabled him to jump to the 44th position. Hafeez began the series at 68th, crafting knocks of 69 and 83 as he was in excellent nick to push the tourists to pass 190 on both the occasions.

Amongst bowlers, Shadab Khan’s five wickets helped him surge to 8th position while left-arm seamer Shaheen Afridi took the 20th position. Their teammates Wahab Riaz climbed 18 places to reach the 107th spot while Haris Rauf reached to 157th position, gaining 25 slots. Haris took three wickets in three games.

Tom Banton highlights England cricketers’ zoom up in rankings:

With 137 runs in the series, Tom Banton made a jaw-dropping jump of 157 places to be on the 43rd spot, ahead of the leading run-getter of the series, Hafeez. Left-handed batsman Dawid Malan, who scored 84 runs, was back in the top five behind Babar, KL Rahul, Aaron Finch, and Colin Munro.

On the other hand, keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow gained a place to be in the career-best 22nd position. In the bowling department, Tom Curran was the only one to surge ahead for England, sharing the 20th position with Shaheen Afridi. The Englishmen will face Australia in three T20Is and as many ODIs, commencing from the 4th of September.

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