Pakistan surges to sixth position after ICC Champions Trophy victory

Pakistan’s stupendous rise in international cricket continued as after winning the Champions Trophy they have risen to sixth in the ICC one-day rankings.

Pakistan started the Champions Trophy as number eight with 89 points, in fear of losing out on a direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup. But by beating world number one South Africa, world number seven Sri Lanka, world number four England and then world number three in the final, they gained valuable ranking points.

“Pakistan has leapfrogged Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to move closer to direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, for which host England and the next seven highest-ranked sides as on 30 September will get straight entries,” said ICC.

Read more: Pakistan bulldoze India to win Champions Trophy 2017

Pakistan has gained four points to move to 95 points as its wins over higher ranked opponents in the tournament included the one in the final against India and an eight-wicket semi-final victory over England. The rankings system is weighted to reflect the difference in ranking points and Pakistan thus had noteworthy gains.

There were no other changes in the teams standings led by South Africa, although India, England and Bangladesh have all lost a point each, ICC announced.

Pakistan pace bowler Hassan Ali and rookie opener Fakhar Zaman are among those to make huge gains.

Hassan, who was named Player of the Tournament after finishing with 13 wickets including hauls of three for 19 in the final and three for 35 against England, has gained 12 points to reach seventh rank. Mohammad Amir, who missed the semifinal due to a back spasm but picked three for 16 in the final, has gained 16 slots to reach 21st place while Junaid Khan has moved up nine places to 47th position.

Fakhar Zaman’s Player of the Match effort of 114 in the final and 57 in the semifinal has helped him break into the top 100 after just four ODIs as he has gained 58 positions after these two performances to reach 97th rank.

Babar Azam has reached a career-best fifth position after gaining three positions with scores of 46 in the final and 30 not out in the semifinal. Mohammad Hafeez has gained two slots to reach 20th rank while opener Azhar Ali has moved up 11 slots to 31st position.