Pakistan’s premier batsman Babar Azam climbed to no.1 spot in the ICC T20 Rankings for batsmen. The right-handed batsman did suffer a torrid time in the five-match one-day series but came back strongly with the bat to help Pakistan win the T20 series against New Zealand.
Babar Azam topped the batting charts for Pakistan in the three-match T20 series and scored 109 runs at an average of 54.5. He scored a crucial half-century in the second game of the series to see Pakistan level the series. He is just two points ahead of Australia’s Aaron Finch, who has been in scintillating form in shorter formats this year.
Sarfaraz Ahmed and co. produced a terrific performance after being whitewashed in the five-match series against New Zealand. They went on to take the T20 series by a margin of 2-1. Babar Azam became the second Pakistani to achieve this feat as Misbah-ul-Haq was the first one to claim the top spot for green shirts in 2009.
Babar Azam did silence his critics with superlative performances in the T20 series and would be keen to continue his rich vein of form in the upcoming series.
Leg-spinner Shadab Khan also did well in the T20 series against New Zealand and produced miserly spells in the last two games to see Pakistan eke out a memorable series win. Shadab has climbed to 14th place in the ICC T20 Rankings for Bowlers. Before the series, he was way down the list while left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir has climbed to 27th place in the latest rankings.
Meanwhile, New Zealand first-choice spinner Mitchell Santner also moved to top spot in the ICC T20 Rankings for Bowlers. He has been consistent performer for New Zealand in the format and did reasonably well with the ball in the T20 series against New Zealand. The 25-year old finished with four wickets and conceded less than seven runs an over in all three T20 games against Pakistan. His teammate Ish Sodhi is 2nd on the table in the T20 Rankings.
