PANDYA RISES TO CAREER-BEST FIFTH FOR ALL-ROUNDERS IN MRF TYRES ICC MEN’S T20I RANKINGS

• Rizwan joins skipper Babar in top two for batters
• Afghanistan players make major gains following dazzling Asia Cup start

Hardik Pandya.

Khel Today Bureau 
New Delhi: India’s Hardik Pandya has leaped eight slots to a career-best fifth place for allrounders in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings following his heroics with bat and ball against Pakistan in their Asia Cup clash on Sunday.

He took three wickets for 25 runs and scored an unbeaten 33 from just 17 deliveries to help his side to victory by five wickets with two balls to spare, racking up 167 rating points as he went.

On the opposing side, Mohammad Rizwan’s 42-ball knock of 43 saw him join his captain, Babar Azam, in the top two of the batters’ rankings with 796 rating points. Azam is still at the helm with 810 rating points.

In the other two matches of the tournament, Afghanistan’s explosive start has seen several of their players make significant gains in the batters and bowlers lists. Openers, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najibullah Zadran have climbed their way to 14th, 29th and 30th place respectively after their emphatic wins by eight and seven wickets against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Rashid Khan has moved two slots to number three in the bowlers’ list with 708 rating points after taking three for 22 against Bangladesh, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman returns to the top 10 with a seven-slot leap to number nine on 660 points.

In the United Kingdom, Ben Stokes advances three spaces to take second place for allrounders with 360 rating points in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings following their series-levelling, innings defeat over South Africa in the second Test match at Old Trafford. He climbs nine slots to reach 18th place with 668 rating points for batters and five slots to close at number 38 and 540 points in the bowlers’ list.

James Anderson is back in the top five after moving one spot from sixth place at 882 points after his combined six wickets for 62 runs in the match, while Stuart Broad slides one up to 13th at 713 rating points. Ollie Robinson goes up four places to 26th with 603 rating points to round them off.

South Africa’s speedster, Anrich Nortje, was the most notable advancement in the bowlers’ list from the opposition, rising three slots to 22nd with 628 rating points.

Finally, in Townsville, Mitchell Starc took three for 24 in eight overs during Australia’s One-Day International (ODI) series opener against Zimbabwe, moving one slot in the bowlers’ list to 15th place in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings. Glen Maxwell and Steve Smith have also moved one place each for their 18th and 19th positions in the batters list. Josh Hazlewood jumped three spaces to 25th in the all-rounders’ list with 187 rating points.

Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava and Victor Nyauchi advance 14 and nine spots to reach 106 and 183rd place in the bowlers’ list, while the home side’s Cameron Green surged 82 slots for his position at 182 after taking his maiden ODI five-wicket haul in the match.