Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi has reclaimed the number-one spot in the ICC Men’s ODI Bowler Rankings, further solidifying his place as one of the world’s best pacemen. This comes just months ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, and his display has been instrumental in his climb as he carried on Pakistan’s winning sequence over Australia in their recent series of victories. Afridi took eight wickets in three matches with an average of 12.62).
Afridi first topped the leaderboard in the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and entering the top of the business this time, he reinforces the fact of being consistent in excellence. His onslaught has relegated South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj from the No. 2 position, and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan sits in the second position
This is an achievement not only for Afridi but also for Pakistani cricket. Now that Afridi stands at the top of the bowling rankings and Babar Azam continues his dominance in the batting charts, Pakistan is the only team which boasts both the world’s top-ranked batter and bowler in ODI cricket
Besides Afridi, another silver lining for Pakistan has been Haris Rauf’s entry into the top 15 ranks. He has jumped 14 places with a career-best position of 13th after the Player of the Series performance against Australia.
Meanwhile, Naseem Shah also achieves a career-best ranking with a gain of 14 spots into 55th
More celebrations for Pakistan cricket as Noman Ali was appointed the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for October 2024 following an incredible performance on the international circuit
