Sikandar Raza becomes No 1 ODI all-rounder

Dubai, Sep 3: Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza for the first time reached the all-rounder summit in the latest ICC Men’s ODI rankings after a fine show in the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Harare.

The 39-year-old scored 92 and 59 not out in the two matches and took one wicket in the series to overtake the Afghanistan pair of Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi, who are now placed second and third, respectively. Raza’s previous best was the second position that he attained in December 2023.

Raza’s aggregate of 151 runs also lifted him nine places to 22nd position in the batting rankings, which is two places off his career-best 24th position reached in June 2023. He has also gained one spot to reach 38th position among bowlers, ICC reports.

Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka, who topped the aggregate with 198 runs to be named the Player of the Series, has moved up seven places to 13th position, while Janith Liyanage (up 13 places to 29th) of Sri Lanka and Sean Williams of Zimbabwe (up three places to 47th) are others to move up the batting rankings after the series.

South Africa's rout of England in their first ODI at Headingley also saw movement, with Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj shaking off Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana to take the sole No. 1 position after a match-winning haul of four for 22 in the first ODI against England in Leeds, with Jofra Archer (up six places to 19th) and Lungi Ngidi (up five places to joint-23rd) among the others to move up the bowling rankings after the match.

Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando has advanced six places to 31st, while Dilshan Madushanka’s match-winning bowling figures of 4-62 in the first Harare ODI, which included a hat-trick, have lifted him from 60th to 52nd position.

In the T20I player rankings, Afghanistan batters Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal make huge progress after helping beat Pakistan in a tri-series match in Sharjah with scores of 65 and 64, respectively.

Zadran is up 12 places to 20th, while Atal has rocketed 346 places to 127th position.

Pakistan batter Hasan Nawaz (up two places to joint 31st) is among those to gain in the batting rankings, while Sufiyan Muqeem (up 11 places to 22nd), Shaheen Afridi (up eight places to 26th) and Mohammad Nawaz (up 15 places to 43rd) are among those to move up the bowling rankings.