KARACHI, Dec 1 (APP): Former World Twenty20 Champions Pakistan slipped to sixth in International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Twenty20 International rankings but captain Shahid Afridi soared in batting and bowling ranking Shahid Afridi moves to 2nd in all-rounder rankings and 6th in bowler rankings, according to ranking released by ICC on Tuesday.
England whitewashed 3-0 in the three-match series to climb to fourth spot in team ranking. Pakistan which was placed second at the start of the series slide four places.
The prolific 35-year-old all-rounder, who became the highest wicket-taker in T20I history during the series (with 88 wickets in 87 matches to date), has climbed up one place to second in the all-rounder rankings and is 32 points behind Bangladesh’s Shakib Al
Hasan.Afridi has also climbed three places to sixth in the ICC T20I Bowler Rankings after claiming five wickets for 77 runs in the three matches and he is the highest-ranked bowler on either side following the series. Other bowlers to make notable career-high gains were Pakistan duo Shoaib Malik (up eight places to 60th) and Anwar Ali (up 35 to 66th), while England pair Chris Jordan (up 13 to 95th) and leg-spinner Adil Rashid (up 50 to 98th) have both broken into the top 100 for the first time. In an unchanged top 10, Alex Hales remains the highest-ranked batsman in third place, while England captain Eoin Morgan has
maintained his eighth place ranking after guiding his team to victory.
Pakistan’s highest ranked batsmen are Ahmed Shehzad (16th) and Umar Akmal (18th) who have both dropped two points apiece.Jos Buttler has climbed two places to 45th while James Vince, who was named the man of the series after scores of 41, 38 and 46 in what was the 24-year-old’s debut 20-over series, is a new entry in 51st position, two places and four points clear of his team-mate Joe Root who himself has climbed six places to a career-high 53rd. Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik has climbed seven places to 58th, but the highest mover overall is Sam Billings who has rocketed 151 places to 95th.
ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 will take place from 11 March to 3 April and after a busy month, reigning champion Sri Lanka now holds a seven-points advantage at the top of the ICC T20I Team Rankings over second-placed West Indies and Australia, who are level on 118 points. England is a single point and one place further back in fourth
place after winning the series 3-0 against Pakistan. ICC T20I Team Rankings:
Rank Team Points
1 Sri Lanka 125
2 West Indies 118
3 Australia 118
4 England 117
5 South Africa 115
6 Pakistan 114
7 India 110
8 New Zealand 108
9 Afghanistan 79
10 Bangladesh 69
11 Hong Kong 66
12 Scotland 66
13 Netherlands 61
14 Zimbabwe 53
15 Ireland 42
