Shaheen Afridi reaches career-best No. 8 in Test bowling rankings
Fawad Alam goes up 34 positions to reach 21st position among batters
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Aug-2021
Shaheen Afridi picked up 18 wickets in the two Tests against West Indies, including ten in the second • Getty Images
The duo of Shaheen Afridi and Fawad Alam have attained career-best positions in the latest ICC rankings for bowlers and batters, respectively after Pakistan's 109-run win against West Indies in the second Test. Afridi's match haul of 10 for 94 - his first ten-for - helped him shoot up ten spots to No. 8, whereas Alam's 124 in the first innings took him up 34 places to the 21st position.
Alam's previous best in the rankings was 47th in May earlier this year and Afridi's best was 18th, which he had reached at the end of the first Test, when he picked up 8 for 109. Afridi, the highest-ranked Pakistan bowler in the rankings, was named both player of the match and player of the series, which ended 1-1.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan also moved up. Babar gained one position to reach seventh after scoring 75 and 33, and Rizwan re-entered the top 20 at the 19th spot after scores of 31 and 10*.
Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, who replaced Yasir Shah for the second Test, gained four places to reach the 44th spot after his three-wicket haul in the second innings.
For West Indies, Jason Holder went up six places to 37th position among batters and fast bowler Jayden Seales, who took 11 wickets in the series, advanced four slots to 54th among bowlers.