Saud, Noman climb in Test rankings

Express Tribune

20 hours ago

Pakistan's players have witnessed significant movement in the latest ICC Test Rankings following South Africa's impressive victory over Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final at Lord's.
Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel has broken into the top 10 of the ICC men's Test batting tankings, climbing to seventh place with 739 rating points.
However, Mohammad Rizwan experienced a drop, now ranked 16th with 671 points, while Babar Azam remains steady at 21st with 651 points.
Salman Ali Agha sits at 31st with 592 points, followed by captain Shan Masood, who occupies 45th spot with 542 points.
Among other Pakistani batters, Abdullah Shafique is placed at 51st, Kamran Ghulam at 81st, and Saim Ayub at 88th.
Leading the latest Test batting chart is England's Joe Root, followed by Harry Brook and New Zealand's Kane Williamson in second and third places respectively.
South Africa's Aiden Markram, named Player of the Match in the WTC final, rose seven places to 11th, just two points shy of the top 10.
His teammate David Bedingham made a notable leap of 17 spots to 40th, sharing the position with Cameron Green of Australia.
In the Test bowling rankings, Pakistan spinner Noman Ali has made a remarkable entry into the top five, now ranked fourth with 806 points.
Sajid Khan and Shaheen Afridi have held on to the 21st and 23rd positions, respectively, while Mohammad Abbas is placed 29th.
Other Pakistani bowlers include Abrar Ahmed at 52nd, Khurram Shahzad at 64th, Aamer Jamal at 72nd, Mir Hamza at 93rd, Salman Ali Agha at 95th and Zahid Mahmood at 97th.
South African pacer Lungi Ngidi, who delivered a match-defining spell in the second innings of the WTC final, surged seven places to 37th, where he is now tied with Lahiru Kumara and Naseem Shah.
For Australia, veteran pacer Mitchell Starc moved up the bowling and all-rounder rankings, securing 10th place in both lists after a five-wicket haul and a gritty half-century in the final.
All-rounder Beau Webster, Australia's top scorer in the first innings, rose 13 spots in the batting rankings.
Among bowlers, India's Jasprit Bumrah continues to reign as the number one Test bowler, with Kagiso Rabada of South Africa in second and Australian captain Pat Cummins in third.
Latif reveals WTC XI
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has unveiled his ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 Team of the Tournament ahead of the official announcement, with no Pakistani player making the cut.
Sharing his XI on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Latif named South Africa's trophy-winning skipper Temba Bavuma as captain, while compatriot Kyle Verreynne was chosen as the wicketkeeper.
For the opening pair, Latif selected India's Yashasvi Jaiswal and Australia's Usman Khawaja. Jaiswal topped the run charts for India in the WTC cycle, scoring 1,798 runs at an average of 52.88, including four centuries.
Khawaja led Australia's batting with 1,428 runs at 39.66, with two hundreds.
England's Joe Root, the highest run-scorer of the WTC 2023-25 cycle, was slotted at number three. Root amassed a staggering 1,968 runs at an average of 54.66, including seven centuries.
The middle order features South African captain Bavuma — who ended his nation's 26-year ICC title drought — alongside England's Harry Brook and Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis. Brook contributed 1,463 runs during the cycle, while Mendis impressed with 1,123 runs at an average of 62.38.
Latif's bowling attack is a blend of spin and pace. Australia's veteran spinner Nathan Lyon secured his spot with 66 wickets in the cycle. He is joined by New Zealand's Matt Henry, who took 48 wickets, South Africa's Kagiso Rabada — who claimed nine crucial scalps in the final — and India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
WTC XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Usman Khawaja, Joe Root, Temba Bavuma (captain), Harry Brook, Kamindu Mendis, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Nathan Lyon, Matt Henry, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah.