Pakistan captain Babar Azam has improved his position in the latest ICC Test batting rankings, moving up two spots to 13th. Saud Shakeel and Shan Masood have also made notable progress, despite Pakistan’s 3-0 series defeat against England.

Babar’s score of 76 in the second innings of the third Test at Birmingham contributed significantly to his rise. Saud climbed two places to 16th, while Shan advanced four places to reach 37th. These rankings were updated by the ICC on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, England’s Harry Brook continues to hold the top position in the Test batting rankings. Shan’s ascent followed his impressive 95 runs in Pakistan’s second innings at Edgbaston, where he and Azan Awais forged Pakistan’s first century partnership of the series. Babar also scored 76 before being dismissed by Josh Tongue. Pakistan posted 449 runs, but England successfully chased 130 to complete a 3-0 series sweep.

In a significant development for England’s pace attack, Ollie Robinson rose two places to a career-best third in the Test bowling rankings after taking 21 wickets across the series. Robinson now holds 856 rating points, becoming only the 16th England bowler to surpass the 850-point milestone. He had previously reached a career-high fourth in February 2023 and gained 23 places during this series.

His teammate Josh Tongue made an even more remarkable leap, climbing 22 places to a career-best 11th after claiming 19 wickets. Tongue was ranked 13th prior to the third Test. Australia’s Mitchell Starc remains the number one Test bowler, while Pakistan’s Noman Ali dropped one place to 10th and Mohammad Abbas slipped to 16th.

Pakistan’s Razaullah, who made his Test debut in the third match at Edgbaston, entered the ICC batting rankings at 91st following his explosive 81-run innings. The 21-year-old struck nine sixes in 63 balls and shared a 121-run ninth-wicket partnership with Abbas. He is also ranked 120th among Test bowlers.

In T20I rankings, India’s Abhishek Sharma moved into second place in batting, surpassing Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan. Abhishek’s scores of 82 and 39 in the opening two T20Is against Afghanistan lifted him one spot, though he remains behind fellow Indian opener Ishan Kishan, who holds the top position by 51 rating points. Farhan dropped to third, while India’s Sanju Samson climbed four places to 30th after his half-century in the second match.

India’s bowlers also made significant strides: Varun Chakaravarthy rose two places to fifth, Jasprit Bumrah climbed seven places to 10th, Arshdeep Singh advanced 11 places to 14th, and Axar Patel gained six places to 27th. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan remains the leading T20I bowler, with Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed in second. Mohammad Nawaz moved up to eighth, while Salman Mirza slipped two places to 18th. In the T20I all-rounders category, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza leads, followed by Pakistan’s Saim Ayub in second.

Pakistan also made gains in ODI rankings. Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi rose one place to seventh among bowlers, and Salman Ali Agha moved up to 14th in ODI batting. Elsewhere, Australia’s Nathan Ellis jumped 20 places to 20th after taking five wickets against Zimbabwe, and Matthew Renshaw surged 54 places to 68th following a century in the same match.

These latest rankings highlight the contrasting scenario for Pakistan: despite a comprehensive Test series loss in England, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, and Shan Masood have improved their batting rankings, while Pakistan continues to have players ranked highly in T20I bowling and all-rounder categories.