Pakistani opener Imam Ul Haq gained big in the latest update of the ICC ODI Players’ rankings on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, thanks to the Men in Green’s crushing 142-run win over Afghanistan in the first match of the three-ODI series in Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bat, and Imam Ul Haq had led the Pakistan innings with a brilliant knock of 61 runs, and Iftikhar Ahmed (39) and Shadab Khan (39) contributed to the final total of 201 runs in 47.1 overs.
For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked three wickets, while Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan took two wickets each.
However, in the second innings, the Men in Green pacers wreaked havoc on Afghanistan batters who had no idea what blew them away.
Only Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18) and Azmatullah Omarzai (16) managed to get into double figures as they were bowled out for 59 runs. This is the lowest total by the opposition in ODIs against Pakistan.
The star with the ball for Pakistan was Haris Rauf who picked 5/18, while Shaheen Afridi picked 2/9.
Pakistan Batters Gain Big In Latest ICC ODI Players Rankings Update
Imam Ul Haq was rewarded for his brilliant performance with the bat and moved one place to third on the latest ODI batter rankings, with Babar maintaining his healthy lead at the top of the list despite a third-ball duck in the match.
Babar (880 rating points) leads South Africa hard-hitter Rassie van der Dussen (777), with Imam (752) closing in on second place following his 17th half-century in international ODI cricket.
India’s Shubman Gill (743 rating points) is in fourth spot ahead of fifth-placed Fakhar Zaman (740), while Mohammad Rizwan moves up three places to 58th on the list for batters following his innings of 21 against Afghanistan.
In the ICC ODI bowling rankings, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood is still no.1 with 705 rating points ahead of teammate Mitchell Starc (686). However, Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Afghanistan moved three places up to 3rd spot with 680 rating points after picking three wickets against Pakistan.
Mohammad Nabi improves a solitary spot to 11th for his two wickets from the same match, while Rauf shoots up seven places to a new career-high rating and 36th place overall following his blistering five-wicket haul for Pakistan.