Shaheen, Hafeez and Rizwan make major gains in latest T20I rankings update

Pakistan’s fast-bowler Shaheen Afridi attained a career best 16th position while veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan also made major gains in latest update to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Twenty20 International (T20I) rankings after the recently concluded T20I series between New Zealand and Pakistan.

New Zealand opener Tim Seifert and fast bowler Tim Southee have attained career-best positions after playing important roles in a 2-1 series win over Pakistan.

Seifert has advanced 24 slots to a career-best ninth position after a fine run in the home series saw him top the aggregate with 176 runs while Southee’s six wickets in the series have lifted him from 13th to seventh position.

Seifert, who was named player of the series with the high point being a career-best 84 not out off 63 balls in the second match in Hamilton, had a previous highest ranking of 32nd in August this year.

Southee’s six wickets, which included a haul of four for 21 in the second match, enabled him to better his previous best of 10th position accomplished in November last year. Southee has thus reached the top 10 in all three formats during his career, having career-bests of fourth in Tests and ninth in ODIs.

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Devon Conway (up 10 places to 62nd) and Glenn Phillips (up 15 places to a career-best 72nd) are the other New Zealand players to move up in the batting list while fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn has progressed from 134th to 92nd place after finishing with five wickets in the series.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Hafeez’s 140 runs, which included an unbeaten 99 in the second match, see him gain 14 places to reach 33rd position. Mohammad Rizwan’s 158 runs, including a match-winning 89 in the final game, have lifted him 152 places to 158th position.

Pakistan’s bowlers had more to cheer about, with Faheem Ashraf moving up 22 places to 13th position, Shaheen Afridi gaining up 11 ranks to reach a career-best 16th position and Harif Rauf’s five wickets in the series helping him climb 42 places to 67th on the chart.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, Pakistan have lost three points and New Zealand have gained three, but the two retain their fourth and sixth positions, respectively.