KARACHI
\nPakistan skipper Babar Azam has moved up a spot to reach the third position in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings. Babar notched up a match-winning fifty in the semi-final against New Zealand during the recently-concluded T20 World Cup.
\nHowever, the skipper did not have a good start to the tournament as he scored just 39 runs in the Super 12 stage of the event, which caused fans and several pundits to criticise him for his dismal performance. He managed to score 32 runs in the final as Pakistan failed to stop England from winning the title.
\nOverall, Babar could only accumulate 124 runs at an average of 17.71 and strike rate of 93.23 in seven innings during the tournament.
\nAs far as the rest of the rankings are concerned, India\u2019s middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav has retained his position at the top of the batting rankings.
\nPakistan\u2019s wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is in the second position, with New Zealand\u2019s Devon Conway and South Africa\u2019s Aiden Markram completing the top five in fourth and fifth place respectively.
\nEngland opener Alex Hales also greatly improved his ranking after playing a key role in his side\u2019s triumphant campaign.
\n\u201cAlex Hales, who smashed an unbeaten 86 from 47 deliveries in the semi-final against India, was also seen making a big jump in the rankings as he climbed 22 places up to No 12. Hales finished as England\u2019s second-highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup, with 212 runs at an average of 42.40,\u201d the ICC said in a press release.
\nIn the bowlers\u2019 rankings, England pacer Sam Curran has moved up two spots to move to number five after registering Player of the Match performance of 3\/12 in the final against Pakistan. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka\u2019s Wanindu Hasaranga, followed by Afghanistan\u2019s Rashid Khan, retain the top two places.
\nEngland spinner Adil Rashid has also surged to the third position in the rankings after gaining five spots.
\n\u201cAdil Rashid has been the biggest gainer after his extraordinary performances in the semi-final against India and the final against Pakistan. Rashid registered figures of 1\/20 and 2\/22 in the two matches respectively, gaining five spots to move up to No 3,\u201d the press release added.
\nIn the all-rounders\u2019 rankings, Bangladesh\u2019s Shakib Al Hasan, Afghanistan\u2019s Mohammad Nabi and India\u2019s Hardik Pandya retain the top three spots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has moved up a spot to reach the third position in the latest ICC T20I batting rankings. Babar notched up a match-winning fifty in the semi-final against New Zealand during the recently-concluded T20 World Cup. However, the skipper did not have a good start to the tournament as he scored […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-295670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n