Pakistan and England players acquire significant gains in ICC T20I rankings

The end of the three-match T20 series between England and Pakistan resulted in a number of players from both sides gaining a significant higher position in ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings. The series ended on 1-1 as the Men in Green won the third and final T20 International by 5 runs owing to the combined efforts of both bowling and batting departments. The second match was won by Englishmen by 5 wickets while the first match was abandoned due to persistent rain in Manchester.

England’s opening batsman Tom Banton collected 137 runs in three matches as he smashed 71, 20, 46 runs respectively. This resulted in him gaining an astounding 152 places to reach 43rd position. Pakistan’s batting all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez also gained the 44th place as he moved from 68th spot after being the highest run-getter in the series with 155 runs including the crucial knock of 86 not out in the final match which also earned him a Man of the Match award.

Pakistan’s pacers Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz, who scripted the team’s victory in the third match, also moved up their places in the ICC table. Wahab acquired the 107th place after moving up 18 places while Shaheen, along with England’s Tom Curran, gained joint-20th position as they took 2 wickets each in the series.

The left-handed batsman Dawid Malan secured 5th position by aggregating 84 runs in the series while Jonny Bairstow also gained one place to reach a career-best 22nd position. The leg-spinner Shadab Khan moved to eighth position in the latest rankings owing to his three-wicket haul in the second T20 International against England.

Belgium gains significant increase in ICC’s T20 ranking

Belgium cricket team was involved in a T20 tri-series with Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Belgium won all the four matches of the series which resulted in it moving to 47th position from 63rd position in ICC’s T20 team ranking while Czech Republic have slipped from 54th to 61st spot after winning just one match. Similarly, Luxembourg had also lost five places as he moved to 63th position by winning a single T20 of the tri-series.

The swashbuckling batsman Shaheryar Butt of Belgium made a high jump in the rankings as he smashed 125 not out and 81 not out against the Czech Republic and Luxembourg respectively on the same day. Butt has acquired the 105th position after gaining 351 slots. Talking about the bowlers, Sudesh Wickramasekara of the Czech Republic moved up 61 slots to settle at 290th position.