Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has moved up two places to replace teammate Mohammad Hafeez as the number-one ranked bowler in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. The latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings that were released on Thursday incorporate both the Pakistan-Australia and England-South Africa ODI series. Saeed was the highest wicket-taker in the series against Australia. He picked 10 wickets at an economy rate of 3.41 with an average of 9.9 in the series. His overall rating of 759 is his career-best.
Meanwhile, Hafeez has slipped to second position in the bowlers’ table. Hafeez achieved his career-best rating of 762 during the series, but finally ended at 747. However, Hafeez has moved up a place to second in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders with a career-best rating of 413. South Africa paceman Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who headed the bowlers’ table before the two series began, is now ranked third.
Other bowlers dropping down the rankings include Morne Morkel in fifth (down by one), Steven Finn in sixth (down by one), Shahid Afridi in 19th (down by three), Tim Bresnan in 38th (down by six) and Sohail Tanvir in 56th (down by nine). South Africa paceman Dale Steyn has re-entered the top 10 in the bowlers’ table. He has moved up four places to 10th. Steyn’s teammate Robin Peterson, who was the highest wicket-taker on either side in the series against England with seven wickets, has moved up 12 places to a career-best 29th. Peterson’s overall rating of 575 is his career-best. The other bowlers to make upward movements include Mitchell Johnson in 18th (up by one) Wayne Parnell in 44th (up by 16), Abdur Rehman in 61st (up by 12), Mitchell Starc in 76th (up by 55), Jade Dernbach in 79th (up by 10), Ravi Bopara in 80th (up by 27) and James Pattinson in 87th (up by 47). South Africa’s Hashim Amla, who was the highest run-getter on either side in the series against England with 335 runs, has consolidated his position as the number-one ranked batsman, followed by Virat Kohli in second position and AB de Villiers in third. Amla’s overall rating of 901 is the highest of his career and is the eighth best in history. Jonathan Trott in fifth (up by two) and Michael Clarke in seventh (up by one) have also made gains in the top ten of the latest batting table. Michael Hussey, meanwhile, is now tenth in the table, moving up four places. The other batsmen to make upward movements include Eoin Morgan in 13th (up by five), Ian Bell in 32nd (up by five), Mohammad Hafeez in 42nd (up by one), Craig Kieswetter in 43rd (up by five), George Bailey in 49th (up by 21), Azhar Ali in 52nd (up by 21), Asad Shafiq in 55th (up by seven) and Nasir Jamshed in 78th (up by 35). Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal has re-entered the rankings at 78th.
Reliance ICC ODI Championship (as of 6 Sept, after England-South Africa and Pakistan-Australia series)
Rank Team Rating
1 England 121
2 South Africa 121
3 India 120
4 Australia 113
5 Sri Lanka 108
6 Pakistan 104
7 West Indies 94
8 New Zealand 74
9 Bangladesh 71
10 Zimbabwe 50
11 Ireland 35
12 Netherlands 16
13 Kenya 11