Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene stands alongsidePakistan's Mohammad Hafeez while launching the ICC T20I rankings. PHOTO: ICC
KARACHI: Pakistan ranked in seventh two behind India in the inaugural International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 International country and player rankings. All-rounders Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Abdul Razzak, batsmen Umar Akmal and bowler Saeed Ajmal made the list of released on Monday in Dubai.
In the all-rounders list, Shahid Afridi came in second behind Australian Shane Watson. Hafeez was ranked fourth and Abdul Razzaq ranked 10th. Spin bowler Saeed Ajmal ranked in third on the bowlers list, while batsman Umar Akmal ranked in eighth in the batsmen’s list.
England’s Eoin Morgan, and Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis topped the batsman, and bowler, respectively.
In 18 T20Is, Morgan has scored 569 runs at an average of 47.41 and only Matthew Hayden (308 runs at 51.33) and Andrew Symonds (337 runs at 48.14) have better averages than the left-hander.
While Morgan is the only batsman to boast a rating of over 800 points on the day of the launch, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Kevin Pietersen of England are both within striking range.
Second-ranked McCullum is on 799 ratings points while third-ranked Pietersen is sitting on 793 ratings points.
The top 20 list includes four batsmen each from Australia and South Africa and three each from Sri Lanka and India.
Ajantha Mendis, who won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Dubai in 2008, leads the field in the bowlers’ category.
The 26-year-old from Moratuwa is the fourth leading wicket-taker behind Pakistan trio – Shahid Afridi (53), Umar Gul (47) and Saeed Ajmal (45) – with 39 wickets in 20 matches. His bowling figures of six for 16 against Australia in Pallekele on 8 August 2011 stands as the best bowling figures in T20Is to date.
The salient feature of the bowlers’ ranking is that seven spinners figure inside the top 10.
Shane Watson leads the all-rounders’ category that also includes three Pakistanis in second-ranked Afridi, fourth-ranked Mohammad Hafeez and 10th-ranked Abdul Razzaq inside the top 10.
David Hussey is in third position as the top 10 also includes two South Africans in Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel.
A surprise in the country ranknings was the inclusion of non test playing nation Afghanistan in the top 10 with 75 points. Zimbabwe brought up the rear with 54 points.
The full rankings, with points are listed below.
Countries: England (127), Sri Lanka (126), New Zealand (117), South Africa (113), India (112), Australia (111), Pakistan (97), West Indies (89), Afghanistan (75), Zimbabwe (54)
Batsmen: E.J.G. Morgan (832), England; B.B. McCullum (799), New Zealand; K.P. Pietersen (793), England; D.P.M.D. Jayawardena (784), Sri Lanka; S. Raina (742), India; T.M. Dilshan (733), Sri Lanka; K.C. Sangakkara (732),Sri Lanka; Umar Akmal (714), Pakistan; S.R. Watson (701), Australia; G.C. Smith (700), South Africa.
Bowlers: B.A.W. Mendis (748), Sri Lanka; G.P. Swann (727), England; Saeed Ajmal (721), Pakistan; N.L. McCullum (711), New Zealand; J. Botha (703), South Africa; Shahid Afridi (689), Pakistan; S.W. Tait (682), Australia; D.J.G. Sammy (671), West Indies; Harbhajan Singh (653), India; S.L. Malinga (652), Sri Lanka.
All rounders: S.R. Watson (385), Australia; Shahid Afridi (339), Pakistan; D.J. Hussey (316), Australia; Mohammad Hafeez (246), Pakistan; C.H. Gayle (194), West Indies; Yuvraj Singh (182), India; J.H. Kallis (179), South Africa; T.M. Dilshan (169), Sri Lanka; J.A. Morkel (164), South Africa; Abdul Razzaq (163), Pakistan.
Express Tribune
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