Mark Chapman, Shaheen Afridi move up in ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings

New Zealand batter Mark Chapman and Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi have made notable gains in the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after their Player of the Match performances in the ongoing five-match series which is level 1-1 after three matches. After the first T20I got washed off, both the teams have won 1 game each with two games still to go in the series. Pakistan emerged victorious in the 2nd T20I by seven wickets and the visitors grabbed the 3rd game with the same margin in Rawalpindi.

Left-handed Chapman’s unbeaten 87 off 42 balls in the third match has lifted him 12 places to 33rd position in the latest weekly update while left-armer Shaheen’s haul of three for 13 in the second match has helped him move up two places to 17th position.

Wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert is another New Zealand batter to gain in the rankings, moving up from 27th to 24th while leg-spinner Ish Sodhi has progressed from 23rd to 18th position.

Meanwhile, Dipendra Singh Airee has become the fourth player from Nepal to reach the top 50 in the Men’s T20I Batting Rankings after scoring an unbeaten 44 against Hong Kong in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Premier Cup.

The others to reach the top 50 from Nepal are Kushal Bhurtel (27th in March 2022), Paras Khadka (42nd in September 2019), and Rohit Paudel (45th in March 2024).

Airee’s 11th position in the all-rounders’ rankings is the highest for Nepal, with the next best being Kaushal Malla’s 25th position.

Hong Kong’s Anshuman Rath (up seven places to 70th) and the United Arab Emirates’ Alishan Sharafu (up 29 places to 88th) among batters, and Nepal’s Sompal Kami (up 16 places to 92nd) among bowlers, have also progressed following their performances in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.