Hafeez breaks into the top 20 for first time in his career

Mohammad Hafeez has achieved a career-best ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmenafter finishing as the leading run-getter in the five-match series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka which concluded in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Hafeez aggregated 448 runs with three centuries, and for this performance he not only earned the player of the series award but has also been rewarded with a jump of 18 places that, in turn, has put him at a career-best 16thposition.

Hafeez has now become Pakistan’s second batsman to feature inside the top 20 with Misbah-ul-Haq retaining ninth spot.

Besides Hafeez, opener Ahmed Shehzad has also achieved a career-high position after he scored 277 runs with a century and a half-century. Shehzad, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 and 2010 in Malaysia and New Zealand respectively, has moved up 23 places to sit in 21st position – just one ratings point behind New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.

Dinesh Chandimal, Shahid Afridi and Sohaib Maqsood are the other big movers inside the top 100.

Chandimal, Sri Lanka’s leading run-getter with 195 runs, has gained eight places and is now in 39th spot, Shahid’s 66 runs at an average of 33 with a strike-rate of 212 has given him a lift of four places to put him in 50th spot, while Sohaib has achieved a career-best 77th position after scoring 165 runs that has provided him a leap of 35 places.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Junaid Khan, Angelo Mathews and Umar Gul are the biggest movers.

Junaid finished the series as the leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets. This performance means he has rocketed eight places to a career-best 11th position.

With Hafeez slipping in the bowling order to 16th, Junaid has now become Pakistan’s second highest-ranked bowler behind Saeed Ajmal who has strengthened his position at the top of the tree following his nine wickets in the series.

Mathews has returned inside the top 20 in 18th place while Umar, who took seven wickets in three matches, has gained 13 places and is now in 43rd spot.

Suranga Lakmal and Lasith Malinga were Sri Lanka’s best bowlers with six wickets apiece. While Lakmal has gained 10 places and is now in 87th spot, Malinga has dropped one place to 29th spot.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders, Hafeez has regained the number-one spot. Hafeez had entered the series trailing Shakib Al Hasan by six ratings but now leads the Bangladesh all-rounder by 35 ratings points.

In the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings, sixth-ranked Pakistan has gained one ratings point to retain its pre-series ranking, while Sri Lanka has conceded two ratings points to move a place down to fifth.

The table is headed by India followed by Australia, England and South Africa.

New Zealand-West Indies ODI series

Meanwhile, the five-ODI series between New Zealand and West Indies started earlier this week in Auckland with West Indies carving out a two-wicket victory.

The latest player rankings reflects players’ performance in the Auckland ODI and has seen Darren Sammy rise seven places to 59th in the batting chart, while Ravi Rampaul, Mitchell McClenaghan and Dwayne Bravo have moved up the bowlers’ list.

Forthcoming fixtures:

**** New Zealand v West Indies

29 Dec: Second ODI, Napier (d/n)

1 Jan: Third ODI, Queenstown (d/n)

4 Jan: Fourth ODI, Nelson (d/n)

8 Jan: Fifth ODI, Hamilton (d/n)

Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 28 December after Pakistan-Sri Lanka series and after first New Zealand-West Indies ODI)

Rank (+/-) Team Rating (+/-)

1 India 120

2 Australia 114

3 England 111

4 (+1) South Africa 110

5 (-1) Sri Lanka 108 (-2)

6 (-) Pakistan 101 (+1)

7 West Indies 91 (+1)

8 New Zealand 84 (-1)

9 Bangladesh 83

10 Zimbabwe 55

11 Ireland 38

12 Netherlands 13

13 Kenya 10

Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 28 December after Pakistan-Sri Lanka series and after first New Zealand-West Indies ODI)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 872 49.46 883 v Ind at Cardiff 2013

2 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 859 51.54 882 v WI at Visakhapatnam 2013

3 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 840 53.34 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

4 ( - ) George Bailey Aus 835*! 54.96 835 v Ind at Bengaluru 2013

5 ( - ) K Sangakkara SL 816 40.11 840 v NZ at Hambantota 2013

6 ( - ) MS Dhoni Ind 789 52.88 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

7 ( - ) T Dilshan SL 760 37.98 767 v Pak at Sharjah 2013

8 ( - ) Jonathan Trott Eng 754 51.25 796 v SA at The Oval 2013

9 ( - ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 735! 45.19 735 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013

10 ( - ) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 717* 43.96 736 v WI at Kanpur 2013

11 ( - ) Shane Watson Aus 708 41.71 773 v SL at Hambantota 2011

12 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 677 45.12 750 v SL at Melbourne 2008

13 (+1) Quinton de Kock SA 673*! 46.31 673 v Ind at Centurion 2013

14 (-1) Ross Taylor NZ 665 38.79 693 v Aus at Adelaide 2009

15 ( - ) Alastair Cook Eng 661 38.85 752 v Aus at Lord's 2012

16 (+18) M Hafeez Pak 660! 31.03 660 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013

17 (-1) Eoin Morgan Ire/Eng 648 39.56 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010

18 ( - ) Rohit Sharma Ind 639 36.06 672 v WI at Kochi 2013

19 ( - ) Paul Stirling Ire 635 37.59 693 v Pak at Dublin 2013

20 (+1) B McCullum NZ 634 30.59 685 v Eng at Auckland 2013

Selected Rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

21 (+23) Ahmed Shehzad Pak 633 32.97 634 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013

22 (-5) Martin Guptill NZ 629 39.33 684 v Zim at Napier 2012

27 ( - ) Umar Akmal Pak 617 36.46 702 v Afg at Sharjah 2012

31 (-3) K Williamson NZ 605 35.41 631 v Ban at Mirpur 2013

32 (-2) Darren Bravo WI 584 32.64 588 v Ind at Kanpur 2013

36 ( - ) Angelo Mathews SL 575 34.17 598 v Aus at Hambantota 2011

37 (+1) Lendl Simmons WI 571 31.72 629 v Ind at Visakhapatnam 2011

39 (+8) D Chandimal SL 566 31.70 667 v Aus at Adelaide 2012

41 (-7) Johnson Charles WI 561* 31.03 592 v Ind at Trinidad 2013

50 (+4) Shahid Afridi Pak 529 23.34 663 v Ind at Lahore 1997

59 (+7) Darren Sammy WI 516! 23.95 516 v NZ at Auckland 2013

63 (-11) L Thirimanne SL 512 27.70 530 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013

77 (+35) Sohaib Maqsood Pak 481* 40.33 491 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013

82 (RE) Jesse Ryder NZ 473* 33.33 574 v Zim at Bulawayo 2011

83 (-3) Dwayne Bravo WI 469 23.63 493 v Eng at Ahmedabad 2006

89 (-3) Kieran Powell WI 451* 28.13 460 v Ind at Kanpur 2013

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) **** Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating

1 ( - ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 776 22.50 4.14 810 v SA at Centurion 2013

2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 742 25.49 4.79 746 v Ind at Durban 2013

3 ( - ) Sunil Narine WI 741 25.71 4.11 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

4 ( - ) Steven Finn Eng 708 27.74 4.71 755 v NZ at Auckland 2013

5 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 696 29.11 4.97 719 v SA at The Oval 2013

6 (+1) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 692 32.21 4.72 738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013

7 (-1) Rangana Herath SL 678 32.24 4.31 703 v SA at Pallekele 2013

8 ( - ) L Tsotsobe SA 674 24.96 4.75 743 v NZ at Auckland 2012

9 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 673 23.54 4.78 717 v SL at East London 2012

10 ( - ) M Johnson Aus 670 25.37 4.82 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008

11 (+8) Junaid Khan Pak 655! 22.28 4.93 655 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2013

12 (-1) Clint McKay Aus 650 24.42 4.77 709 v Eng at Cardiff 2013

13 ( - ) Kyle Mills NZ 646 26.41 4.71 722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009

14 ( - ) Abdur Razzak Ban 643 28.07 4.49 679 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013

15 ( - ) Kemar Roach WI 629 26.77 4.92 650 v Pak at St Lucia 2013

16 (-4) M Hafeez Pak 623 35.49 4.06 769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

17 ( - ) R Ashwin Ind 619 32.23 4.93 691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

18 (+5) Angelo Mathews SL 611 35.63 4.51 649 v Ind at Trinidad 2013

19 (-1) Daniel Vettori NZ 610 31.50 4.11 788 v Eng at Durham 2008

20 (+6) Ravi Rampaul WI 609 28.98 5.02 628 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2011

Selected Rankings

Rank (+/-) **** Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating

23 (-7) N Kulasekara SL 598 32.72 4.68 727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009

27 ( - ) Shahid Afridi Pak 579 33.57 4.62 673 v Ban at Mirpur 2011

28 (+6) M McClenaghan NZ 573*! 19.02 5.70 573 v WI at Auckland 2013

29 (-1) Lasith Malinga SL 558 27.30 5.15 675 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2007

33 ( - ) N McCullum NZ 541 44.48 4.83 545 v SL at Dambulla 2013

35 (-3) Darren Sammy WI 539 44.40 4.55 599 v Can at Jamaica 2010

43 (+13) Umar Gul Pak 509 28.00 5.10 638 v WI at Mirpur 2011

44 (-1) Ajantha Mendis SL 507 21.01 4.39 648 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2011

48 (+9) S Senanayake SL 500* 43.77 4.74 502 v Pak at Sharjah 2013

52 (-1) Abdur Rehman Pak 476* 37.80 4.18 496 v Zim at Harare 2013

54 (-9) Thisara Perera SL 474 26.95 5.55 610 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2012

65 (+10) Dwayne Bravo WI 446 30.10 5.40 601 v SA at Antigua 2010

66 (-14) T Dilshan SL 445 46.90 4.74 497 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013

77 ( - ) Marlon Samuels WI 416 44.13 4.77 480 v Aus at Mumbai 2006

79 (+15) Jason Holder WI 405*! 27.88 4.97 405 v NZ at Auckland 2013

82 (-4) Sohail Tanvir Pak 396 35.83 5.21 633 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008

87 (+10) Suranga Lakmal SL 385*! 32.92 5.99 385 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating

1 (+1) M Hafeez Pak 411 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

2 (-1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 376 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

3 (-1) Shane Watson Aus 370 433 v WI at St Lucia 2012

4 (+2) Angelo Mathews SL 351 373 v Ind at Trinidad 2013

5 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 346 378 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013

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