Pakistani pacers Haris Rauf and Abbas Afridi break into ICC top 20

Pakistan’s pacers Haris Rauf and Abbas Afridi have made significant gains in the latest ICC Men’s T20I bowling rankings following a dominant 3-0 series win over Bangladesh at home.

According to rankings, released on Wednesday, the pace duo jumped into the top 20 to share the 18th position, with 605 rating points each.

Left-arm spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, despite not featuring in the series, also moved up slightly and now sits at 35th with 552 points.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s T20I vice-captain Shadab Khan and leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed are now tied at 58th, each holding 476 points.

However, not all bowlers enjoyed upward movement. Naseem Shah and Sufiyan Muqeem slipped in the rankings, now placed 92nd and 95th with 407 and 406 points, respectively.

At the top of the ICC T20I bowling standings, New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy has retained the No.1 spot, followed by England’s Adil Rashid.

India’s Varun Chakaravarthy, who previously held second, has now moved to third.

In the batting department, Pakistan’s experienced duo Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan maintained their 12th and 13th positions.

Mohammad Haris also held on to the 30th spot.

However, emerging players saw some setbacks—Hasan Nawaz fell to 46th, while Saim Ayub is now ranked 62nd.

Fakhar Zaman moved down one position to 87th, and T20I captain Salman Ali Agha dropped two spots to 76th, currently holding 430 points.

Globally, Australia’s Travis Head remains the top-ranked T20I batter.

India’s Abhishek Sharma has climbed to second, pushing England’s Phil Salt to fourth as another Indian youngster, Tilak Varma, rose to third.