Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been having a sensational outing in international cricket, which started with his exploits in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in UAE and is now ripping up defences in the longest format against Bangladesh. The Men in Green won the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram by 8 wickets, and Afridi returned with 7 wickets in the game.
In the second innings of the Test match, Afridi cleaned up Bangladesh’s top three and added two more wickets, making it seven for the game, adding the two he picked up in the first innings. Hasan Ali did pretty much the same, picking up a five-fee in the first innings and returning with two in the second.
Pakistan stars have made BIG gains in the latest ICC Test Rankings!! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/TFgy0SMjMM
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 1, 2021
These exploits have helped them earn a promotion in the ICC Men’s Test Rankings for bowlers. Shaheen has gone up three places to the fifth position, overtaking James Anderson, Kagiso Rabada and Neil Wagner. Ali, in turn, moved five places upwards to a career-best 11th.
Afridi made his international debut in 2018 against New Zealand. Despite having some rough patches in between, he has proven himself to be a crucial wicket-taker for their unit across all formats.
| Rank | Player | Rating |
| 1 | Pat Cummins | 908 |
| 2 | R Ashwin | 840 |
| 3 | Tim Southee | 839 |
| 4 | Josh Hazlewood | 816 |
| 5 | Shaheen Afridi | 810 |
| 6 | Neil Wagner | 802 |
| 7 | Kagiso Rabada | 798 |
| 8 | James Anderson | 794 |
| 9 | Kyle Jamieson | 776 |
| 10 | Jasprit Bumrah | 763 |
Among the cricketers who took part in the Kanpur Test, Kyle Jamieson was ranked ninth whilst Tim Southee, who picked up a five-fer in the first innings against India, finds himself just one point adrift of second-placed Ravichandran Ashwin.
The newly minted Australian captain Pat Cummins continues to head the list, and he will be in action soon in the first Ashes Test to cement his position at the top.
Among batters, Tom Latham made a significant jump in rankings, going ahead from 14th to ninth in Men’s Test rankings. Latham had picked up half-centuries in both innings of the Kanpur Test. Another star performer of the last week was Dimuth Karunaratne, who got 147 and 83 in two innings of the Test match.
Among all-founders, Ravindra Jadeja found himself going one position up, just short of the apex position, which is currently in possession of Jason Holder. Jadeja had chipped in with a crucial half-century against the Kiwis and got four wickets in the second innings.
