Pakistan leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed has ascended to the number one position in the ICC Men’s T20I bowling rankings for the first time. This shift occurred after Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan lost a rating point following a lackluster performance in the final match against India, allowing Abrar to overtake him with a tally of 736 points.
Rashid Khan had maintained the top ranking for six months prior to this change. Abrar Ahmed now becomes the fifth Pakistani bowler to achieve the number one spot in T20I bowling rankings, joining the ranks of Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Imad Wasim, and Shahid Afridi.
Meanwhile, England’s captain Harry Brook reached a career-high fourth place among T20I batsmen, propelled by a strong home series against Sri Lanka. Brook scored an unbeaten 114 in the opening match at Southampton and amassed 170 runs throughout the series, earning the Player of the Series award. He climbed five positions in the rankings, which remain led by India’s Ishan Kishan.
Brook, who is already the top-ranked Test batsman, also advanced three spots to 12th in the ODI batting rankings, positioning him to enter the top 10 across all three international formats. His England teammate Jos Buttler also improved his standing by two places to fifth after contributing 172 runs in England’s 3-0 series sweep over Sri Lanka.
Other notable movements in the T20I batting rankings included India captain Shreyas Iyer rising seven places to joint 22nd, and England’s Tom Banton making a significant leap of 30 places to 60th.
Among bowlers, England’s Jamie Overton experienced a remarkable rise of 47 places to a career-best sixth spot after taking five wickets in the Sri Lanka series. England’s Liam Dawson climbed 12 places to 11th, while India’s spinners Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi moved up to 15th and 35th respectively. Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai advanced three spots to 49th.
England’s Will Jacks climbed to 58th among T20I bowlers and surged to third in the all-rounders’ rankings.
In the ODI rankings, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza improved by five places to 24th after scoring 45 and an unbeaten 81 in the final two matches of the home series against Australia. Australia’s Josh Inglis climbed 11 places to 30th, while Zimbabwe’s Craig Ervine rose seven spots to 65th. Will Jacks also moved up two places to 77th in the ODI batting rankings.
Australia’s fast bowler Nathan Ellis advanced three places to a career-best 17th after taking nine wickets in the Zimbabwe series. Sri Lanka seamer Asitha Fernando improved his ODI bowling ranking significantly, jumping from 39th to 30th after taking three wickets for 53 runs in the opening match against England at Chester-le-Street.
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