Yasir achieves career-best ranking, chance for Pakistan to claim second position

ISLAMABAD, Oct 27 (APP): Pakistan’s wrist spinner Yasir Shah has
become the second highest-ranked bowler in the world in the latest
International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Player Rankings, released on
Tuesday following the conclusion of the Dubai Test.
Yasir, who has achieved the number-two ranking for the first time in
his career picked up eight for 180 in Pakistan’s 178 runs victory, which has
earned him 25 points. This has, in turn, enabled him to leapfrog the pace trio of England’s James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and New Zealand’s Trent
Boult, says a press release issued here.
Given that Yasir is still in the qualification period for bowlers, it
is likely that he will be able to further reduce the 78-point gap with world
number-one Dale Steyn if he puts up another solid show in the Sharjah Test.
As many as six other bowlers have also achieved career-best rankings.
Sri Lanka’s Dhammika Prasad has moved up to a career-high 15th position,
Wahab Riaz of Pakistan has rocketed nine places to a career-high 35th
position after match figures of five for 144, Imran Khan’s four wickets
in the match have put him in 47th position after gaining seven places,
England’s Mark Wood has shot 13 places to 48th spot after match figures of
five for 83, West Indies captain Jason Holder has moved up three places to
a career-best 49th after taking two wickets in the match and player of the
Colombo Test Milinda Siriwardana has jumped 44 places to a career-best
71st spot following figures of two for 26 and three for 25.
Other bowlers inside the top 50 who have made upward movements
include Jerome Taylor in 21st (up by three places), Dilruwan Perera in 26th
(up by two places), Moeen Ali in 29th (up by two places) and Zulfiqar Babar
in 30th (up by four places).
In the ICC Test Team Rankings, there is no change to Sri Lanka and West
Indies’ rankings as they continue to hold seventh and eighth positions,
respectively.
However, Pakistan has given itself an excellent opportunity to claim
second position. However, to make this happen, it will have to win the
Sharjah Test starting from Sunday. If England draws level, then both the
sides will retain their pre-series rankings and points. In the case of a draw, England will drop to fifth to push both Pakistan and India one place up.
England’s batsman Joe Root has also regained the number-one batting
ranking in the latest Test Player Rankings. Joe scored 88 and 71 in the Dubai Test, which has helped him reclaim the top spot from Australia captain
Steven Smith. Root, who entered the Test trailing Smith by 13 points, now
leads the Australian by just three points.
Younus Khan, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq have
also reaped the rewards of good performances in the Dubai Test, which went
down to the wire.
Younus has returned to the top five in fifth position following knocks
of 56 and 118, Misbah has moved up five places to 11th following his scores
of 102 and 87, and Asad Shafiq has achieved a career-high ranking of 12th
after he scored 83 and 87. For this performance, Asad has earned 43 points,
which, in turn, has put him ahead of Virat Kohli, Ross Taylor, Shivnarine
Chanderpaul, Brendon McCullum and Faf du Plessis.