In the most recent update of the ICC Men’s ODI Rankings, released this Wednesday, the Pakistan team players had a reduction in their positions, while at the same time, New Zealand players who managed a 3-0 series victory over Pakistan made some significant gains.
Pakistan Pacers Drop Down
Fast bowler Haris Rauf went down by 2 spots and is now 24th, with 555 rating points. His fellow pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr. has suffered a more significant fall; now he is at 71st, the number after falling down six spots and has 423 points.
On the other hand, spinner Abrar Ahmed went a spot lower to 57th. Shaheen Shah Afridi was one bowler who also reduced his position by one and readily moved to the 12th position in the bowling rankings after he had no role in the ODI squad of Pakistan following their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.
Naseem Shah was the only person in the Pakistani bowling unit who stood out by moving five places up from 48th and occupying the 43rd place, and he was the man of the series in the recent matches to boost his performance.
Pakistan Batters Have Different Results
It was a two-step-up and a two-paid-for-the-dime for the Pakistani batsmen in the latest cricket rankings. Captain Mohammad Rizwan, who leaped from the 23rd place, is now sitting comfortably at the 21st place, while his teammate and one other injury-hit player, Fakhar Zaman, stepped down from the number 21 to be 23rd. Imam-ul-Haq has the 34th position unchanged.
The young player was not immune to the overall hoopla. Although Saim Ayub, who is now number 36, dropped two places in the ranking, vice-captain Salman Ali Agha got a heads-up by one place and thus reached 40th place.
Ross Taylor and Carl Bracewell are among the top performers for New Zealand
After leading his national team in place of the regular captain, Michael Bracewell was named the most outstanding contributor to the squad. His splendid performance as an all-rounder with 85 runs and two wickets in the series was considered crucial, and that secured him the fifth spot in the ICC ODI All-Rounder Rankings after his ascension of two spots.
Debutant Bowler, Bracewell, scored a magnificent 59 from 40 balls with the help of six sixes and one four, and the New Zealanders got a score of 264/8 in the third ODI. Also, he was the game-changer with a ball and took 1/39 off 8 overs to contribute to a 43-run win for the hosts and a clean sweep of the series.
The debuting player’s performance, Bracewell, improved his rank to 12th in the Batting Rankings, where he is currently 89th, and stable 18th place in the Bowling Rankings.
The main star of the bowling unit was Ben Sears, who was a clear MVP of the ICC series after his five-wicket haul in the last ODI and the five wickets he took in the first two ODIs. His incredible form enabled him to jump 64 places in the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings, highlighting his potential.
No Real Changes at the Top
Most of the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings did not see many major changes in the leader board. Once again, Shubman Gill of India is at No. 1, while Pakistan’s Babar Azam and India’s skipper Rohit Sharma occupy the second and third place, respectively.
At the same time as the rankings change and teams go to other international games, attention and interest will be on not just the new players like Sears and Bracewell of New Zealand but also the recovery and reclaim of the elite Pakistani players.
