Pakistan leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed has climbed to the top of the ICC men’s T20I bowling rankings, becoming only the fifth Pakistani bowler to achieve the feat.
The ICC announced on Wednesday that Abrar had overtaken Afghanistan star Rashid Khan, moving one rating point ahead of the former No. 1. Rashid finished the latest rankings update on 736 points after spending six months at the summit.
Abrar joins an exclusive group of Pakistani bowlers who have previously held the No. 1 T20I ranking: Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Imad Wasim and Shahid Afridi.
Elsewhere in the latest rankings, England captain Harry Brook climbed five places to a career-best fourth among T20I batters following an impressive home series against Sri Lanka.
Brook struck an unbeaten 114 in the opening match in Southampton and finished with 170 runs as England completed a 3-0 series sweep. He was subsequently named Player of the Series.
Already the top-ranked Test batter, Brook also moved three places to 12th in the ODI batting rankings, putting him within reach of the top 10 across all three international formats.
England teammate Jos Buttler rose two positions to fifth in the T20I batting rankings after accumulating 172 runs against Sri Lanka. India captain Shreyas Iyer advanced seven places to joint-22nd, while England’s Tom Banton jumped 30 positions to 60th.
Among the bowlers, England’s Jamie Overton recorded the biggest rise, climbing 47 places to a career-best sixth after taking five wickets against Sri Lanka.
Liam Dawson moved up 12 places to 11th, India’s Axar Patel advanced 12 spots to 15th and Ravi Bishnoi climbed five places to 35th. Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai rose three positions to 49th.
England all-rounder Will Jacks moved to 58th in the T20I bowling rankings and third among all-rounders.
In ODIs, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza climbed five places to 24th among batters after scores of 45 and an unbeaten 81 in the final two matches of the series against Australia.
Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis rose three places to a career-best 17th after collecting nine wickets in the series, while Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando moved from 39th to 30th following figures of 3-53 against England.