ICC Rankings: Pakistan’s star fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has again become the number one ODI bowler. According to the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Shaheen Shah Afridi has snatched the reign from South African bowler Keshav Maharaj. Indian-origin South African spinner Keshav Maharaj has now reached number three position.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was till now at number four position but he has jumped three places and regained the number one crown. Afridi lost his reign during the ODI World Cup played in India last year but after a year he has again reached number one.
Afridi’s brilliant performance against Australia
The reason behind this leap of Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is his brilliant performance recently. Afridi had performed brilliantly in the recent ODI series played against Australia. He took 8 wickets at an average of 12.62 in the three-match series. He has been rewarded for this brilliant performance and has left other bowlers behind.
Shaheen Afridi reaching the top in bowling means that now Pakistani players have captured both batting and bowling ODI rankings. Babar Azam is at number one position in terms of batting and now Afridi has reached number one in terms of bowling. Team India captain Rohit Sharma is at second position in batting.
Kuldeep Yadav is fourth in ranking
If we talk about Indian players, then three Indian players Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have made it to the top ranking. Chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who hails from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, is at number four, while Jasprit Bumrah is at number six. Mohammad Siraj is jointly ranked at number 7.
Jasprit Bumrah played his last match in the ODI World Cup on 19 November last year. Jasprit Bumrah has not participated in any ODI match after the World Cup final match played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This is the reason why there is no improvement in his ODI ranking.
Sanju Samson took a leap in T20
Now if we talk about T20, India’s Sanju Samson has made a huge leap in the T20 batting rankings. Sanju Samson has climbed 27 places to reach 39th position. Two matches of the four-match T20 series being played against India and South Africa have been played so far and the matches are tied one each. Sanju Samson scored a century in the first match against South Africa while he was out for zero in the second match.
There has also been an improvement in the ranking of T20 bowlers and Sri Lankan bowler Wanindu Hasaranga has moved up four places to second position. England’s Adil Rashid still remains on top. India’s Ravi Bishnoi has gained one place and has now reached sixth position.
