Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan is closing in on the top spot in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings for batters.
Rizwan scored an unbeaten 98 during the fifth and final match of the T20I series against New Zealand, while also being the highest run-scorer in the series with 162 runs.
India’s Suryakumar Yadav is currently at the top with 906 points, meanwhile Rizwan, who gained 13 points, sits in second place with 811.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam retains his third spot in the rankings, meanwhile New Zealand’s Mark Chapman has moved up 45 places to a career-best 35th overall.
“Babar Azam holds onto third place on the latest T20I rankings for batters, although the right-hander dropped 13 rating points to 756 points after he managed just 19 runs in the final match of the series,” the ICC said in a press release.
“The big mover on the latest rankings for T20I batters was New Zealand dasher Mark Chapman, who moved up 45 places to career-best 35th overall, following his match-winning century in that final game of the series in Rawalpindi.
“Another big mover for Pakistan was Iftikhar Ahmed, who scored 36 in the final match. He moved six places to joint-38th, his career-best position and is the third-highest ranked Pakistan batter.”
All-rounder Imad Wasim also made impressive gains in the rankings after putting up a good show during the series.
“One of Pakistan's most impressive performers during that tied series was all-rounder Imad Wasim, with the experienced lefty producing some excellent efforts with both bat and ball,” the ICC added.
“Imad scored 31 in the fifth and final game of the series, but it was his eight wickets at an average of 10.37 during the series that really stood out and the 34-yer-old was rewarded on both the bowler and all-rounder rankings.
“Imad jumped inside the top 100 on the list for bowlers and also rises 44 spots to equal 24th on the latest rankings for T20I all-rounders.”