Pakistan opener Babar Azam has reclaimed the number-one batting ranking while wrist spinner Shadab Khan has vaulted into the second position for the first time in his career.

This was according to the latest MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings, which were released on Wednesday afternoon following the conclusion of Pakistan versus Windies series in Karachi on Tuesday.

Babar, who captained Pakistan in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012, was in stellar form when he scored 17, 97 not out and 51 as Pakistan consolidated their position at the top of the team rankings following a 3-0 series win.

For this consistency, Babar was adjudged player of the series and was also rewarded with a jump of two places, which has made him the highest-ranked batsman in the shortest format of the game for the second time in less than 10 weeks.

Babar had first surged to the top on 28 January following the series against New Zealand, before Glenn Maxwell of Australia went top during the Australia-New Zealand-England T20I tri-series on 7 February. New Zealandโ€™s Colin Munro finished the series on 24 February as the number-one ranked batsman.

When Babar topped the batting rankings in January, he had become the second Pakistan batsman after Misbah-ul-Haq (2008-2009) to claim the coveted number-one position.

For his efforts in Karachi, Babar earned 95 points, which put him ahead of Munro and Maxwell. Babar now leads Munro by 80 points, while Maxwell is another two points behind.

Other players to make an upward movement following this series include Shoaib Malik (32nd, up by four places), Fakhar Zaman (50th, up by 15 places), Hussain Talat (has entered in 54th spot) and Chadwick Walton (98th, up by 11 places).

In the bowling table, Shadab Khan has rocketed 10 places to second following his five wickets in the series. Shadab, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016, collected 125 points from the just-concluded series, which has put him just 26 points behind fellow wrist spinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, who interestingly is just 14 days older than Shadab.

It is also interesting to point out that six of the seven top-ranked bowlers are wrist spinners (Rashid Khan, Shadab Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ish Sodhi, Samuel Badree and Imran Tahir), while sixth-ranked Michael Santner of New Zealand is a left-arm spinner.

Fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali are also on the charge in the latest rankings. Amir has lifted 15 places to 12th, while Hasan has jumped 10 places to a career-high 30th position.

Pakistanโ€™s left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz is the biggest mover in the latest rankings. The 24-year-old took four wickets in the series, which has helped him to rise 66 places to a career-high 53rd rank.

Other bowlers to improve their rankings include Kesrick Williams (57th, up by seven places), Faheem Ashraf (68th, up by 24 places) and Shoaib Malik (82nd, up by five places).

Glenn Maxwell is the number-one ranked all-rounder, while Shoaib Malik is Pakistanโ€™s highest-ranked all-rounder in ninth position after moving up by two places. Windiesโ€™ Marlon Samuels has slipped one place to fifth.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has opened up a four-point advantage over second-ranked Australia following a 3-0 win. In contrast, the Windies have dropped from fifth to seven after losing four points.

The annual update of the T20I team rankings will now be carried out on 1 May – all results from 1 May 2014 to 30 April 2015 will be dropped from calculations, while matches played from 1 May 2015 to 30 April 2017 will be weighted at 50 percent and matches played from 1 May 2017 will be weighted at 100 percent.

MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Rankings (as on 4 April, following the conclusion of Pakistan v Windies series):

Team Rank Points
1 Pakistan 130 (+4)
2 Australia 126
3 India 121
4 New Zealand 116
5 England 114
6 South Africa 111
7 W. Indies 111 (-4)
8 Sri Lanka 89
9 Afghanistan 88
10 Bangladesh 77
11 Scotland 67
12 Zimbabwe 61
13 UAE 52
14 Netherlands 49
15 Hong Kong 46
16 PNG 39
17 Oman 38
18 Ireland 36

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings (as on 4 April, following the conclusion of Pakistan v Windies series):

Top 10 Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Average Highest Rating
1 (+2) Babar Azam Pakistan 881 53.00 881 v Win at Karachi 2018
2 (-1) Colin Munro NZ 801 33.51 805 v Pak at Wellington 2018
3 (-1) Glenn Maxwell Aus 799 34.58 801 v NZ at Auckland 2018
4 (-) Aaron Finch Aus 763 40.20 892 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
5 (-) Martin Guptill NZ 747 34.40 793 v SA at Hamilton 2012
6 (-) Evin Lewis Win 691* 36.00 780 v Eng at Durham 2017
7 (-) Alex Hales Eng 679 31.65 866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014
8 (-) Virat Kohli Ind 670 50.84 897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014
9 (-) M. Shahzad Afg 653 31.85 706 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
10 (-) H. Masakadza Zim 648 29.20 699 v Ban at Khulna 2016

 

Top 10 Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Average Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Rashid Khan ย Afg 759 13.72 759 v Zim at Sharjah 2018
2 (+10) Shadab Khan Pak 733* 15.41 805 v Pak at Wellington 2018
3 (-1) Y. Chahal Ind 706 18.45 706 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2018
4 (-1) Ish Sodhi NZ 700 19.33 739 v Pak at Wellington 2018
5 (-1) Samuel Badree Win 671 20.44 855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
6 (-) Mitchell Santner NZ ย 665 21.37 731 v Pak at Wellington 2018
7 (-) Imran Tahir ย  SA 650 15.85 795 v NZ at Auckland 2017
8 (-) M. Rahman Ban 647 18.60 695 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
9 (-4) Imad Wasim Pak ย 637 20.25 780 v Win at Trinidad 2017
10 (-) M. Naveed UAE 626 17.27 632 v Afg at Dubai (GCA) 2016

Top 5 All-Rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 (-) Glenn Maxwell Aus 390 396 v Eng at Melbourne 2018
2 (-) Mohammad Nabi Afg 292 292 v Zim at Sharjah 2018
3 (-) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 288 408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
4 (+1) JP Duminy SA 235 276 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
5 (-1) Marlon Samuels Win 229 321 v SL at Mirpur 2014