Dubai, Jun 13: Pakistan have pipped India to climb to fourth spot in the latest ICC men’s ODI team rankings after completing a clean sweep over West Indies in a recently concluded home series.
New Zealand with 125 points are on top of the table while England are a point below at 124 and Australia are placed third at 107.
Before the start of the series, Pakistan were placed fifth in the rankings with a rating of 102 points but it must be mentioned that India haven’t played any ODIs since the home series against the West Indies few months back.
With a 3-0 victory over the Windies, Pakistan leapfrogged to No. 4 with rating of 106, leaving India behind a notch below at 105.
India, though, will have a chance to climb the rankings as they play England and West Indies — three ODIs each — before Pakistan play their next ODI series in August.
Pakistan have enjoyed a brilliant last couple of years in the 50-over format.
Apart from the blip against England away from home, they have won all their ODI series,including 2-1 series wins against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
They defeated Australia by the same margin when they came to visit Pakistan for the first time since 1998. West Indies stood no chance against Pakistan as they were rampaged 3-0.
This period of upsurge has come under the captaincy of Babar Azam, who has led by example in all formats of the game.
With his recent century in the first match against West Indies, he became the first batter to score three consecutive ODI centuries twice, having previously achieved the feat in 2016 as well.
And with a fifty in the second ODI, he broke the world record for most consecutive 50+ scores (9) in men’s international cricket across all formats. The top-ranked ODI batter has built a troop of trusted players along the way.
One of them is Imam-ul-Haq, who has enjoyed a purple patch of late and has seven scores of 50-plus in his last seven ODIs to show for his efforts.
ICC Men’s ‘Player of the Year’ Shaheen Shah Afridi has been the leader of the pack of bowlers that consists of Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan, among others.–(PTI)
