Rahmat Shah Becomes First Afghan Player in ICC Top 10 Test Rankings

Kathmandu. Afghanistan's Test and One Day captain Rahmat Shah has become the first Afghan player to reach the top 10 in any category of the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings. After scoring 173 runs in the first match of the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah, Rahmat improved by six places to climb to seventh position in the Test batsmen rankings. The excellent innings in the drawn match also helped him achieve his career-best rating. This is Rahmat's fifth Test century and second of the year. He has entered the top 10 for the first time, surpassing Indian captain Shubman Gill, South African opener Aiden Markram, and Sri Lankan batsman Kamindu Mendis. Earlier this month, after winning the triangular ODI series involving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, Afghanistan had reached its highest ever sixth position in the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings. Experienced Zimbabwean player Craig Ervine has also improved his ranking from the Sharjah Test. Scoring an unbeaten 206 in the second innings, he moved up nine places to 48th in the Test batsmen rankings. Similarly, with the conclusion of the two-match Test series between Bangladesh and West Indies, some other players have also made leaps in the rankings. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, who took 16 wickets in the series and was named 'Player of the Series', improved by 11 places to jointly reach 19th in the Test bowlers rankings. This is his career-best rating. His teammate Justin Greaves, after scoring 46 and 51 runs and taking one wicket, has achieved joint eighth position in the Test all-rounders rankings, improving by one place. West Indies' Cavem Hodge has moved up 12 places to 52nd. Earlier, Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy, who was outside the top 100, has climbed to 60th in the batting rankings, while West Indies' wicketkeeper-batsman Amir Jangoo has improved by 28 places to reach 62nd. In the latest ODI rankings released after the first two matches of the five-match ODI series between India and New Zealand, bowlers from both teams have also improved. Indian all-rounder Axar Patel, who took 2 wickets for 28 runs in the second match in Wellington, has climbed 23 places to 21st in the ODI bowlers rankings. Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, who took four wickets in the first match of the series in Auckland, has moved up 11 places to joint 31st. Gurnoor Brar, who has taken the most wickets so far in the series with seven, has become the biggest mover among Indian bowlers. He has climbed directly to 48th from outside the top 100. New Zealand's fast bowlers Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson have also made progress in the rankings. Duffy has improved by eight places to joint 43rd, while Jamieson has climbed 24 places to reach 60th.