Tag: ICC Rankings

  • Why is India hosting the World Cup with empty stadiums?

    Why is India hosting the World Cup with empty stadiums?

    Social media users are questioning the decision by the ICC to let India host the World Cup when there is no opening ceremony and barely any spectators in the first match.

    Interestingly, when the Asia Cup was being partially hosted by Pakistan, some Indians criticized the ‘empty stadium’ in Multan. Now, the tables have turned, India is the host, the first match is between New Zealand and England, finalists of the last World Cup, and the stadium is empty. There was no opening ceremony for ICC World Cup 2023 and honestly, we can’t see spectators either.

    This one’s hilarious, to be honest, does this remind you of Asif Zardari too?

    Twitter user Ahsan Shehzad said, “A complete empty stadium in Ahmedabad, is India the right place to host the WC??”

    Osama highlighted multiple issues regarding the World Cup being hosted in India

    Anas Tipu wanted a banter with Irfan Pathan, who blames everything on neighbors

    Trendulkar hopes that the stadium will fill up after office hours

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam meets Virat Kohli in Dubai ahead of Pak Vs India clash

    Team India landed in Dubai on August 23 and went straight to the nets to prepare for India’s match against Pakistan on August 28 (Sunday). Ahead of the much-anticipated match, players from both the teams met each other in Dubai.  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video in which Virat Kohli could be seen meeting Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.

    In the video, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal were also chatting with Muhammad Nabi.

    Babar Azam retained his top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings. He is at the top of the rankings with 818 points, whereas Kohli has been struggling of late.

    Comparisons between the two had started long back and gathers steam ahead of a match between the two rival sides.

    Read more: ‘This too shall pass’, Pakistani captain Babar Azam backs Virat Kohli to regain form

    Asia Cup is all set to start from August 27 and Pakistan will be playing its first match against India on August 28 in Dubai.

    Babar and Kohli’s video has drawn massive reaction of fans from both countries. Here are some tweets.

  • Babar Azam retains top position in ICC T20I rankings

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the T20I rankings on Wednesday. Pakistan’s all-format captain, Babar Azam, has retained his top spot in the rankings. He is at the top of the rankings with 818 points.

    Babar last played T20I in April but his consistent runs in the T20I format have helped him stay ahead of other players.

    India’s Suryakumar Yadav is on the second spot with 805 points. Last week, he stood at 816 points, just two points away from Babar. Another Pakistani player, Mohammed Rizwan, is in the top 10 ranking with 794 points and is on the third spot.

    Babar continues to be the only batter in the world ranked in the top five in all three formats of the game. Babar is ranked first in T20I and ODIs, and third in Tests.

  • Kohli ranks below Babar across all three cricket formats in ICC rankings

    Kohli ranks below Babar across all three cricket formats in ICC rankings

    Indian Test captain Virat Kohli has dropped below Pakistan Cricket Team Skipper Babar Azam in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) batting rankings across all three formats of cricket Test, ODI, and T20I.

    Kohli was already below Babar in the ODI and T20I rankings, but after the latest rankings were released, the Indian batter slipped two positions and is now at the ninth spot, with 747 rating points.

    The ex-Indian ODI and T20I captain managed to score 53 runs in the Centurion Test against South Africa — averaging only 26.50.

    Kohli was two places above Babar, who gained a spot, and is now at the eighth spot, with 750 rating points in the Test category.

    The Indian batter, in the ODI rankings, is at second place, a spot below Babar, who is at the top of the list. The Pakistan batter has 873 rating points, while Kohli has 844.

    In the T20I rankings, Babar is sitting at the top spot, with 805 rating points, equalling Dawid Malan, while Kohli is not even in the top 10. The Indian batter is at the 11th spot, with 657 rating points.

  • Shaheen Afridi climbs to third spot in Tests, Babar Azam loses top rank

    Shaheen Afridi climbs to third spot in Tests, Babar Azam loses top rank

    In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Dawid Malan is back to number one among batters with Pakistan captain Babar Azam unable to hold on to the top spot after two matches of their series against the West Indies.

    Shaheen headlines the bowling rankings in the latest weekly update for men, which is carried out on Wednesdays and includes the second Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan, which Pakistan won by an innings and eight runs to clinch full ICC World Test Championship points from the series.

    Shaheen has continued his climb with three wickets in the match while off-spinner Sajid Khan has zoomed up 52 places to 49th after a 12-wicket haul that won him the Player of the Match award. Mohammad Rizwan (up five places to 18th) and Fawad Alam (up seven places to 20th) have moved up in the batters’ list after their useful half-centuries.

    In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Dawid Malan is back to number one among batters with Pakistan captain Babar Azam unable to hold on to the top spot after two matches of their series against the West Indies. He moves to number 3 while Mohammad Rizwan has retained his fourth spot.

    Pakistan’s Haider Ali has gained 86 slots to reach 98th position after scores of 68 and 31 while the rankings for bowlers see spinner Shadab Khan back in the top 10, moving up five slots to ninth position.

    Fast bowler Haris Rauf is up three places to 19th while Mohammad Nawaz has gained 29 slots to reach 54th position. For the West Indies, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosen has gained 73 slots and is now 68th among bowlers.

    Team Pakistan has won two out of three matches in the three-match T20I series with West Indies in Karachi. Babar has scored 0 and 7 runs in both the matches respectively. While the Men in Green are set to play their third and final match against the Windies tomorrow (Thursday) in National Stadium Karachi.

  • Shaheen Shah Afridi jumps to top five in Test rankings

    Shaheen Shah Afridi jumps to top five in Test rankings

    Pakistan’s young fast bowler Shaheen Sha Afridi has jumped to the top five of the ICC Test bowling rankings for the first time following his five-for against Bangladesh in Pakistan’s eight-wicket win in the first Test in Chittagong.

    Afridi, who finished with a match haul of seven wickets, moved up three places to number 5, overtaking James Anderson, Kagiso Rabada and Neil Wagner in the process.

    Each of the three bowlers Afridi has overtaken will have an opportunity to make gains of their own. Wagner could have the first crack if he makes New Zealand’s XI for the second and final Test against India in Mumbai. Anderson is likely to line up for the first Ashes Test next week, while Rabada will spearhead South Africa’s pace attack during their home Tests against India later this month.

    Meanwhile, Afridi’s new-ball partner Hassan Ali also moved five places to 11th, his best-ever position so far, following seven wickets in the Chittagong Test. This included figures of 5 for 51 that hastened Bangladesh’s collapse in the first innings after Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 206 runs for the fifth wicket.

    Read More – Hassan Ali equals Waqar Younis, Imran Khan’s record in Bangladesh Test

    Among batters, Tom Latham and Dimuth Karunaratne made significant gains for their efforts in Kanpur and Galle respectively. Latham, who made 95 and 52 in New Zealand’s thrilling draw, jumped five places to No 9, while the Sri Lankan captain was two spots higher at seven following scores of 147 and 83 in Sri Lanka’s 187-run win in the first Test.

    Over in Bangladesh, the nature of Pakistan’s come-from-behind win had a few other gainers too. Abid Ali’s 133 and 91 helped him jump 27 slots to a career-best 20th rank, one place above Mushfiqur. Among the other gainers was Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam climbed two places to 23rd after picking up a seven-for in Pakistan’s first innings.

    Pakistan will play the next Test match against Bangladesh from December 4 to 8.

  • T20 World Cup: Twitter reacts after India crushed Afghanistan

    T20 World Cup: Twitter reacts after India crushed Afghanistan

    Soon after Indian batting ended in the first half of India vs Afghanistan match of T20 World Cup Super 12 stage, Twitter was flooded with reactions on Afghanistan’s performance.

    Taking to Twitter, many users were disappointed by the bowling figures of the Afghan team. Some tweeted that the match is fixed, while others said that the Indian team paid well to the Afghans.

    Here are a few reactions of the netizens:

    https://twitter.com/Dani_Baloch7/status/1456111258902609920?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Aliraza30010129/status/1456124333206671360?s=20
    https://twitter.com/utpk07/status/1456113150684770306?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Haider0fficial/status/1456112846132101121?s=20

    Many notables took to Twitter to express their displeasure with the Afghan team.

    However, many chided those who believed in such conspiracy theories.

    https://twitter.com/hassan_a_niazi/status/1455939309664489476?s=21

    KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma put together India’s biggest opening stand at T20 World Cups. Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant then provided India the finishing kick with a 63-run partnership in the last 3.3 overs. Having put such a high total, India’s bowling was too good for Afghanistan, keeping them to 144, moving into positives on the net-run-rate.

    Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s net-run-rate dropped from 3.1 to 1.481. India has played three matches and their current NRR is 0.073. Their next matches are against Scotland and Namibia.

  • Babar Azam becomes world’s no 1 batter after prolific performance in T20 World Cup

    Babar Azam becomes world’s no 1 batter after prolific performance in T20 World Cup

    Captain of Pakistan cricket team Babar Azam on Wednesday unseated England’s Dawid Malan to become the top-ranked T20I batter in the world according to the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings.

    Babar now sits on top of ICC’s T20I batsman rankings with 834 points and Milan is number 2 with 798 points.

    Two successive half-centuries in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 have helped the batter overtake Malan and grab the number 1 position.

    Babar, who scored 51 against Afghanistan and 70 against Namibia to lead the 2009 champions into the semifinals, is at the top for the sixth time in his career. The 27-year-old had first attained the top position on January 28, 2018. He is presently also ranked No 1 in ODIs.

    Babar’s tally of 834 rating points keeps him 36 points ahead of Dawid Malan but Babar’s career best remains 896 rating points that he achieved after scoring 65 against England at Cardiff on May 5, 2019. Malan had been at the top since November 29 last year.

    Read More – ‘This is for you’: Babar Azam dedicates the win to Pakistani fans

    England’s performances in the tournament too reflect in the rankings, with both their openers Jos Buttler and Jason Roy moving up in the latest weekly update.

    Buttler has gained eight slots to reach a career-best ninth position after smashing his maiden T20I hundred against Sri Lanka while Roy is up five places to 14th.

    Meanwhile, Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has topped the bowling charts for the first time in his career after two successive three-wicket hauls against South Africa and England. He replaces South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi, who was at the top since April 10 this year.

    The top four bowlers in the rankings are all wrist spinners, with England’s Adil Rashid overtaking Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan to take third place with a career-best 730 rating points. A fast bowler who has made rapid rise is South Africa’s Anrich Nortje, who has gained 18 slots to reach the seventh position.

    At the top of the all-rounders’ table, Mohammad Nabi has caught up with Shakib Al Hasan on 271 rating points. Hasaranga is fourth in this list.