Following a strong start to the T20 World Cup, Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has recaptured the top spot in the ICC men’s all-rounder rankings.
Shakib’s T20I all-rounder rating increased by 20 points to 295, putting him ahead of Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan, who dropped from 285 to 275.
Shakib, who is the tournament’s top wicket-taker with 11 at an average of 6.45 and third in runs scored with 118 at 29.50, has had a memorable campaign thus far. He already has the most wickets by a bowler in a single Men’s T20 World Cup event, with 11.
The Bangladesh all-rounder was not the only big mover on the all-rounder rankings, with Australia’s Glenn Maxwell (161 rating points) moving up three spots to third after Australia’s first-up win against South Africa. He is level with Namibia’s JJ Smit (161), who has shot up an incredible 23 spots.
With the bat, England’s Dawid Malan (831) remains on top but Pakistan’s Babar Azam (820) has cut the gap down to just 11 points after his strong start to the tournament. They are joined in the top five by South Africa’s Aiden Markram (743), Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan (727) and Virat Kohli (725) in that order.
Markram has climbed eight spots after posting scores of 40 and 51* in South Africa’s first two matches of the T20 World Cup, while Rizwan has moved up three spots after scores of 79* and 33.
On the bowling front, Bangladesh’s Mahedi Hasan (621), Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi (596) and Haris Rauf (563), and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood (557) were the big movers.
Hasan has rocketed up 11 spots to enter the top 10 at ninth with 621 points, sandwiched between compatriots Shakib (632) and Mustafizur Rahman (614).
Afridi (596), whose opening spell against India stands among this tournament’s most iconic moments so far, also moved up 11 spots and is now knocking on the door of the top 10 at the 12th spot.
Rauf (563), Player of the Match in Pakistan’s win over New Zealand, was the biggest mover in the top 20, surging 34 spots to 17th, one ahead of Hazlewood (557), who himself improved his ranking by 16 spots.
(With IANS inputs)