Having gone through a magnificent limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe, Fakhar Zaman has finally made it to the list of top 20 ODI players according to the International Cricket Council(ICC) rankings. The game's governing body released the latest development in the ODI rankings at the end of Bangladesh's series in the Caribbean and completion of Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe and it has brought a reason to smile for the affable young player.
Fakhar scored 515 *International runs in the series and has gained a total of 22 places to move into 16th position. When the player rankings were last updated on July 17 following the England versus India series, and the three ODIs between Zimbabwe and Pakistan, Fakhar was 24th but his knocks of 210 not out in the fourth ODI and 85 in the final ODI helped him to gain eight more places.
Fakhar is now the second Pakistani batsmen in the list of top 20, behind Babar Azam who has reaffirmed his second spot with a decent series while, Virat Kohli, unarguably the best ODI player right now, sits deservingly at the top.
Fakhar's teammate and opening partner Imam-ul-Haq also gained from a fruitful series in Zimbabwe. He, having already gained 70 places after the first three ODIs, moved up another 51 spots to finish the Zimbabwe tour in the 43rd position. Imam scored 395 runs with three centuries across 5 ODIs.
On the bowling front, Pakistan wrist-spinner Shadab Khan and fast bowler Faheem Ashraf have made upward movements. Both bowlers collected nine wickets apiece in the series, and as such, Shadab has finished in 31st position, while he started the series in 53rd position and Faheem has ended up in 79th position after starting off the series ranked 149th.
Meanwhile, Tamim Iqbal, having scored 287 runs that included 2 matchwinning hundreds against West Indies, has made a climb of four places to reach a career-high 13th amongst the best ODI players. Shakib al Hasan and Mahmudullah have also made substantial jumps in the rankings, as the former has jumped three places to 26th, while the later is now on 38th position.
The West Indies may have lost the series 2-1, but there was something to smile for the home side. In the batting table, Shai Hope is now 45th (up by five places), Shimron Hetmyer is 59th (up by 77 places) and Chris Gayle is 66th (up by 12 places).In the bowlers’ list, Ashley Nurse is 38th (up by 25 places) and Devendra Bishoo is 92nd (up by 31 places).
The next update to the player rankings will now be done at conclusion of the ongoing Lanka and South Africa ODI series.
(Inputs from ICC)
