Test Rankings: Pakistan's Hasan, Afridi and Nauman attain career-best spots
Pakistan cricket team has seen three of its players achieve career-best spots in the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings after guiding their side to a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe. Bowlers Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, and Nauman Ali gained significantly, while R Ashwin remains the only Indian bowler to feature in the top-10 as per the Test Rankings. Here's more.
The ICC Test Rankings were released after the culmination of the second Zimbabwe-Pakistan Test. Hasan, who claimed 5/27 in the first innings of the second Test, moved up six places to 14. Shaheen, who claimed a fifer in the second innings, jumped nine places to 22nd. Meanwhile, spinner Nauman went from 54th to 46th after taking figures of 5/86.
Pakistan achieved a unique feat as it was only the sixth instance of three bowlers from one side finishing with five-wicket hauls in the same Test. Notably, this was the first such instance in 28 years, the last one being when Australia's Paul Reiffel, Shane Warne, and Tim May achieved the feat against England at Edgbaston in 1993.
Hasan deserves a special mention for his outstanding display against Zimbabwe. In the first Test, he claimed figures of 4/53 and 5/36. In the second Test, Hasan registered figures of 5/27 and 0/9. The right-arm pacer now has 707 rating points. Meanwhile, Shaheen claimed 10 scalps across the two Tests. He now has 58 Test scalps at 29.58. Afridi has 632 rating points.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Abid Ali, who slammed an unbeaten 215 in the second Test, has advanced 38 places to be 40th among batsmen. On the other hand, senior player Azhar Ali has gained four slots to reach 16th position after scoring 126. For Zimbabwe, Regis Chakabva moved up by 16 slots to reach 81st place after scores of 33 and 80.
