Babar holds on to No 1 T20I batsmen spot

DUBAI: With scores of 7, 40 and 79 against New Zealand, Pakistan opener Babar Azam has clung on to the top spot among batsmen in Twenty20 Internationals.

Babar’s teammate Mohammad Hafeez rose 16 spots to No 53 after his knocks of 45, 34 and 53, and Shoaib Malik made a gain of one spot to No 28 on the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings.

Despite the 2-1 series loss, some of the New Zealand batsmen too made gains. Colin Munro rose one spot to No 3, Kane Williamson shot up three places to the 12th position while Ross Taylor jumped up five places to No 59.

In the bowling department, Pakistan’s Faheem Ashraf broke into the top 10 at No 7 with career-best points of 652, and Imad Wasim trailed close on his heels at No 8 – a rise of two places.

Mohammad Hafeez and Shaheen Afridi made massive gains of 20 spots and 41 spots respectively. Hafeez rose to No 59, while Afridi jumped to No 78.For New Zealand, Tim Southee and Adam Milne both rose five spots to No 36 and No 40 respectively, while Trent Boult dropped nine spots to No 27. Ish Sodhi had a lukewarm series and slipped two places to No 5, but remained New Zealand’s highest-ranked bowler.

On the all-rounders’ table, Hafeez climbed five positions to No 11, and Faheem made a leap of six places to the 36th spot. Imad climbed three places to No 49, tied with New Zealand’s Colin de Grandhomme, who also rose four places.