Pakistan tops ODI rankings
Pakistan soared to the top of the ODI rankings following their 3-0 ODI series whitewash of Afghanistan that took place in Sri Lanka. Both Pakistan and Australia have played 23 matches but with this win, Pakistan have pulled ahead of the rankings by a mere 0.48 rating points.
Australia was top of the ranking with 118 ratings points while Pakistan was in second place with 115.8 however, with this win Pakistan now sit top with 118.48 rating points.
The 3-0 whitewash was completed on Saturday, 26th August with yet another brilliant bowling display from the Pakistanis to close out a 59-run win.Battling first, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan each scored half centuries to push Pakistan’s total score to 268/8 on the fast-paced Colombo surface. The bowlers then took centre stage as Shadab Khan led the way with 3 wickets from 10 overs and only conceded 42 runs for an economy of 4.20.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz each contributed 2 wickets each as Afghanistan got bowled out by the 48th over. The one bright spot for Afghanistan was Mujeed Ur Rahman who struck the fastest half century by an Afghan batter. He did it in 26 balls and eventually finished with 67 runs from 37 balls. Both teams are now set to compete in the Asia Cup which starts on Wednesday, 30th August.
Mushfiqur Rahim’s International Cricket Career
Pakistan should be too strong for Nepal in their opening match but will face a stern test when they take on India on September 2nd. India are currently 3rd on the rankings and will be looking to add to the 7 Asia Cups that they have won.
Afghanistan on the other hand, will face Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in their Asia Cup group in what will be a tightly contested group. Many experts predict that whoever wins this year’s Asia Cup will be one of the favourites to win the ODI World Cup in October. Australia on the other hand begin their tour of South Africa on September 7th and will be looking to retake the number 1 position in their 5 match ODI series. Australia then play India in a 3 game ODI series as their final build up to the World Cup.
Other notable ODI rankings released shows Babar Azam still at the top of the ODI batting rankings with Rassie van der Dussen and Iman ul-Haq at 2nd and 3rd respectively. Josh Hazlewood sits tops of the ODI bowling rankings followed by his teammate Mitchell Starc and Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman in 3rd.
As for the ODI all-rounder rankings, Shakib Al Hasan is way ahead of the rest of the pack with Mohammad Nabi and Sikandar Raza rounding up the top 3.
With the ODI World Cup around the corner, all teams are in their final stages of preparation with squad selections on-going. As the excitement builds, fans across the world will be geared up to watch their favourites teams compete on the grandest of stages.
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