Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi, opening batter Fakhar Zaman and fast bowler Haris Rauf have all improved their positions in the latest ICC one-day international rankings, following their performances in the recently concluded tri-series featuring England and Sri Lanka. The updated rankings, published by the International Cricket Council, reflect the form players showed in that series and offer a snapshot of where Pakistan’s leading players stand in world cricket.
Fakhar’s rise was the most eye-catching among the batters. He climbed nine places to 37th in the batting rankings, a jump driven by a memorable innings in which he scored 127 runs from 99 balls, including 11 fours and six sixes. An innings of that kind does more than add runs to a total; it changes the shape of a match, puts pressure on the opposition’s bowlers and gives the rest of the batting order room to play around it. Rankings reward such performances because they are calculated from a player’s recent form, weighted by the strength of the opposition and the importance of the match, so a big innings against strong opposition moves a player further than the same score in a less demanding contest.
Elsewhere in the batting list, former Pakistan captain Babar Azam retained ninth place with 661 rating points, while Salman Ali Agha remained 13th with 622 points. Their stability at the top of Pakistan’s batting order underlines their continuing importance, even in a series where others grabbed the headlines. Mohammad Rizwan, currently out of Pakistan’s squads across all formats, slipped two places to 44th with 532 points, a reminder that rankings also punish absence: a player who is not playing cannot defend his points, and others move past him. Saim Ayub dropped four places to joint 68th with 468 points, while Shadab Khan fell one position to 93rd with 398 points.
At the very top of the batting rankings, India captain Shubman Gill continued to lead with 841 points, followed by New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell and India’s Virat Kohli, with Rohit Sharma, Ibrahim Zadran, Ben Duckett, Shai Hope, Harry Brook and KL Rahul completing the top ten.
Bowling rankings bring good news for Shaheen and Haris
In the bowling rankings, Shaheen moved up one place to fifth with 621 points after taking 10 wickets in five matches during the tri-series at an economy rate of 5.18 runs per over. Ten wickets in five matches is a strong return for a fast bowler who also carries the responsibilities of captaincy, and an economy rate just above five shows that he was not merely picking up wickets in matches that were already lost; he was controlling the scoring while doing so. Haris also made progress, climbing five places to 24th with 540 points after claiming seven wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 6.13.
Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed slipped one position to fourth with 642 points, while New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner moved up to third. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan retained the top spot, followed by South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in second. Abrar’s slight slip, despite remaining in the top five, shows how tight the bowling rankings are at the top, where a single series can shuffle the order. Among other Pakistani bowlers, Naseem Shah dropped four places to 55th with 472 points, Arafat Minhas fell three positions to 71st with 434 points, Mohammad Wasim slipped four places to 85th and Mohammad Nawaz dropped three positions to 94th.
All-rounder rankings reward Salman and Arafat
In the all-rounder rankings, Salman Ali Agha climbed three places to 13th with 189 points, while Shaheen also gained three positions to reach 16th with 175 points. Arafat Minhas recorded the biggest improvement among Pakistani players in this category, jumping 36 places to 33rd with 143 points, a leap that suggests a breakthrough series in which his contributions with both bat and ball were recognised. Naseem Shah slipped four places to 42nd, Abrar Ahmed dropped two positions to 47th with 129 points, Shadab Khan fell four places to joint 54th alongside Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub dropped one position to 58th with 117 points and Mohammad Nawaz slipped three places to 97th. Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai retained the top position in the all-rounder rankings, followed by Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.
The update also highlights the work still to do. Several established players slipped, and Pakistan’s representation in the top ten remains thin, with Babar the only batter in the top ten and Abrar and Shaheen the only bowlers. Turning promising series into sustained ranking gains will require the kind of consistency that top-ranked players show: not one big innings or one good series, but repeated performances against strong opposition. If Fakhar can build on his tri-series form, if Shaheen can maintain his wicket-taking while captaining the side, and if the younger all-rounders can continue their rise, the next rankings update could tell an even better story for Pakistan.
