Mohammad Nawaz surges in ICC T20I Rankings

Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz has made a notable rise, entering the top ten of the latest ICC Men’s T20I Rankings released on Wednesday.

The left-handed spinner climbed eight spots to secure the sixth position among the world’s best all-rounders.

The rise comes on the back of Nawaz’s impressive all-round display in the first T20I against South Africa in Rawalpindi, where he claimed three wickets and smashed 36 off just 20 deliveries.

Despite Pakistan’s 55-run loss, the 31-year-old’s individual performance stood out as one of the few positives.

Meanwhile, young left-hander Saim Ayub continues to lead the ICC Men’s T20I All-Rounder Rankings with 262 rating points, maintaining his position ahead of India’s Hardik Pandya and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.

In the T20I batters’ list, Sahibzada Farhan climbed one place to 11th with 670 rating points, consolidating his position as Pakistan’s top-ranked T20I batter.

Mohammad Rizwan also rose one spot to 40th, while Babar Azam retained his 39th position.

Among bowlers, Abrar Ahmed slipped one place to eighth, while Shaheen Shah Afridi dropped two places to 16th.

Sufiyan Muqeem and Haris Rauf also slid down to 19th and 34th, respectively. Nawaz, however, continued his upward trend, gaining six places to reach 33rd.

In ODIs, there were minor shifts in the performance of several Pakistani players.

Mohammad Rizwan climbed one spot to 24th in the batting rankings, followed by Imam-ul-Haq at 40th and Saim Ayub at 53rd. Salman Ali Agha, however, dropped to 39th.

Among ODI bowlers, Shaheen Afridi moved up to 14th, while Abrar Ahmed and Naseem Shah gained one place each to sit at 38th and 43rd, respectively. Mohammad Nawaz slipped three spots to 72nd.

In the all-rounders’ category, Salman Ali Agha climbed to 19th, while Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah held steady at 27th and 36th. Haris Rauf and Saim Ayub both advanced to jointly occupy the 55th position.