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DUBAI: Former captain Babar Azam has fallen out of the top 20 as Pakistan cricketers have experienced a significant decline in the latest ICC Test rankings, highlighting their ongoing challenges in red-ball cricket.
England’s Joe Root continues to reign supreme at the top of the ICC Test batting rankings, with teammate Harry Brook at No.2 and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson occupying third.
For Pakistan, their top batter is vice-captain Saud Shakeel, who is in the 10th spot, tied with Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, both having 739 rating points.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam, who was once a mainstay in the top 10, has now slipped out of the top 20 in the latest ICC Test batting rankings for the first time in recent years. He currently occupies the 21st spot with 651 rating points.
The 29-year-old managed 193 runs across four innings during the away series against South Africa, a tally that included three half-centuries.
However, his underwhelming returns at home against the West Indies, where he could only muster 45 runs in four innings, dragged him down the ladder.
On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan held firm at 14th with 671 points, showing no movement. Salman Ali Agha continues to linger at 32nd, with no major jump or drop.
Among others, Test captain Shan Masood gained a solitary spot to move to 46th with 542 points, while Abdullah Shafique crept up to 53rd with 520 points, small improvements, but not enough to signal a resurgence.
The bowling rankings also brought more bad news for Pakistan. Sajid Khan dropped to 22nd, and Shaheen Shah Afridi slipped to 23rd.
Noman Ali, however, continues to be Pakistan’s highest-ranked Test bowler, sitting at 6th, while Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah remain at 29th and 39th, respectively.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah leads the ICC Test bowling charts, with South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada close behind.
In the all-rounders’ category, there’s more cause for concern as no Pakistani player features in the top 20. India’s Ravindra Jadeja retains his spot at the summit.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz emerged as the biggest gainer across categories. The 27-year-old’s stunning all-round show in the recent Test series against Zimbabwe has catapulted him to second place among all-rounders, his career-best position.
Miraz piled on 116 runs and bagged 15 wickets across two Tests. His standout performance came in the Chattogram decider, where he smashed a century at No.7 and followed it up with a five-wicket haul to seal the win.
As a result, he also leapt eight spots to 55th in the batting rankings and reached 327 rating points in the all-rounders’ list — just 73 behind Jadeja.
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