Shakib Reclaims T20I Crown

Shakib Al Hasan has climbed back to the top of the ICC Men’s T20I all-rounder rankings for the first time since early 2018, the ICC said in a press release on Wednesday. 

Shakib earned 34 rating points over the course of the final four T20Is against Australia to move to 286 points – one more than Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi, reports media.  

The rise to the top of the rankings continues what has been a fruitful period for the Bangladeshi all-rounder, who earned an ICC Men’s Player of the Month nomination for July and became just the second man to take 100 T20I wickets during the fifth match against Australia.

The 34-year-old was the Player of the Series in Bangladesh’s 4-1 win over Australia, finishing with the third-most wickets (seven at 18.14) and second-most runs (114 at 22.80) in either side.

Shakib was not the only major winner from Bangladesh on the latest rankings update, with Mustafizur Rahman climbing 20 spots to move to 10th on the T20I bowling rankings with 619 rating points.

The wily seamer improved his rating by an even 100 across the final four T20Is against Australia, finishing with a campaign haul of seven wickets at 8.57, leaking just 3.52 runs per over.

Meanwhile, Bumrah has rocketed back into the top 10 of the ICC bowling rankings after his nine-wicket haul in the first match against England.

Absent from the top 10 since late March, Bumrah has climbed 10 spots to ninth on the rankings with 760 rating points. He gained 77 points in the first Test against England.

It is the first time Bumrah has been in the top 10 since late March, with the Indian spearhead now sandwiched between Stuart Broad (8th) and Mitchell Starc (10th). James Anderson climbed one spot to seventh on the rankings at the expense of bowling partner Broad.

Bumrah was not the only major mover from that Test, with England captain Joe Root leapfrogging India counterpart Virat Kohli to fourth on the batting rankings thanks to his major contributions in both innings.

Root scored a fluid 64 in England’s first innings before restoring their hopes of victory with a brilliant 109 in the second dig, earning 49 rating points to go to 846 overall. Kohli fell for a rare golden duck in India’s first innings and was yet to bat in the second when rain washed out the final day with India needing 157 runs to win with nine wickets in hand.

The strong position the tourists were in was largely thanks to the efforts of Bumrah, who led the attack expertly, taking 4/46 in the first innings and 5/64 in the second. It was the 27-year-old’s sixth Test five-wicket haul and his first since August 2019.

Ravindra Jadeja also moved to outright second on the all-rounder rankings with 377 rating points, seven more than Ben Stokes.