Abrar Ahmed tops ICC T20I bowling rankings, ending Rashid Khan’s reign

Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed has risen to the top of the ICC Men’s T20I bowling rankings for the first time in his career, ending Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s six-month reign at No. 1. Abrar moved to the summit after Rashid slipped one rating point behind the Pakistan spinner’s tally of 736 following an unimpressive outing against India. The 28-year-old became only the fifth Pakistan bowler to top the T20I bowling rankings, following Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Imad Wasim and Shahid Afridi. Abrar, who has played 10 Tests, 19 ODIs and 38 T20Is for Pakistan, has taken 133 international wickets. He is also ranked second in the ODI bowling rankings, 39 rating points behind Rashid, who occupies the top position in that format. The Karachi-born right-arm mystery spinner has featured in nine T20Is for Pakistan this year and taken 15 wickets, including six in the three-match home series against Australia, which Pakistan won 3-0 in January and February. Abrar said the achievement fulfilled a long-held ambition of his. “When you start playing cricket, you have only one dream to represent Pakistan. Once you achieve that, the next dream is to become world number one,” he was quoted as saying by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s digital platform. “I feel very proud to become the world number one bowler while representing Pakistan. I will continue working hard to achieve more success and win more matches for Pakistan.” Abrar said improving his consistency had been a particular focus of his work. “In the past, I had variations in my bowling, but consistency was an area I needed to improve. I worked hard on my consistency and that work has helped me improve a lot,” he said. He is currently with Pakistan’s Asian Games squad, which is undergoing a four-day training camp in Karachi ahead of the competition in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. “My aim is to perform well and help my team win matches and return to Pakistan with a gold medal,” Abrar said.

Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed has become the world's No. 1 ranked T20I bowler in the latest ICC rankings update. Abrar climbed to the top with 736 rating points after pushing Afghanistan star all-rounder Rashid Khan to second place.Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who was once at the top of the rankings, has now slipped to seventh position with 617 points, while Indian star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is sitting on 10th rank with 651 points.Australian spinner Adam Zampa also moved up one spot to third in the rankings. For Pakistan, Mohammad Nawaz remained eighth with 658 points, while Salman Mirza slipped to 18th with 636 points. Shaheen Afridi also dropped one place to 33rd with 602 points.Usman Tariq was among the biggest movers for Pakistan as he moved up by two places to 57th with 524 points. Sufiyan Muqeem climbed one spot to 63rd with 510 points. Saim Ayub moved up to 71st with 492 points, while Shadab Khan remained 77th with 485 points. Haris Rauf gained two places and moved to 86th with 448 points.In the T20I batting rankings, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan retained third place with 848 rating points. Indian batsman Ishan Kishan is reigning at the top position with 901 points and Indian star opener and explosive batsman Abhishek Sharma occupy the second spot after scoring fastest T20I century by an Indian.ICC T20I Batting Rankings: Abhishek Sharma Rises To 2nd, Ishan Kishan Retains Top Spot After Afghanistan HeroicsSaim Ayub also improved his position among batters, climbing two places to 39th with 560 points. Former Pakistan white-ball captain Babar Azam moved up two spots to 41st with 555 points.Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha remained 45th with 547 points, while Fakhar Zaman retained his 72nd position with 481 points.