Younus, Misbah and Azhar make upward movements in player rankings

Younus, who scored 213 and 46 in Pakistan’s 356 runs victory, has climbed one place to sixth.

The middle-order batsman, who rose to number-one position following his triple century against Sri Lanka in Karachi in 2009, had entered in series in 11th place on 759 ratings points. During the series, in which he aggregated 468 runs, he gained five places and 101 ratings points, and is now just three ratings points behind South Africa’s fifth-ranked Hashim Amla.

Misbah, who scored 69 and 101 not, which was the joint fastest century in the history of Test cricket, has risen three places to eighth position. The Pakistan captain scored 271 runs in the series, as a result of which he gained two places and 56 ratings points. Misbah now trails Australia’s David Warner by 40 ratings points.

Azhar Ali, who scored two centuries in the Abu Dhabi Test, has rocketed nine places to 18th position. Azhar, who also scored 53 and 30 in Dubai, had started the series in 26th position.

The good news for Australia is Mitchell Marsh’s scores of 87 and 47 has helped the 23-year-old vault 84 places to 94th on the list.

The batting table is headed by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, with AB de Villiers of South Africa in second position.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah has risen 29 places to 36th after taking five wickets in the match. Yasir’s fellow spinner, left-armer Zulfiqar Babar, has climbed 13 places to a career high of 40th following his figures of two for 94 and five for 120.

Pakistan fast bowlers Rahat Ali and Imran Khan have also improved their rankings. Rahat is now in 72nd position after a rise of seven places, while Imran has leaped 25 places to 86th position.

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has retained his fourth position on 849 points, two points adrift of Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath. Steven Smith has gained three places and is now in 85th spot.

South Africa’s Dale Steyn leads with bowling chart, followed by Ryan Harris, who missed the Pakistan series due to an injury.

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin continues to lead the way in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for All-rounders, with Mitchell Johnson dropping one place to fifth.

Other notable movers from the series are Mohammad Hafeez, who has risen four rankings places to 19th, with Steven Smith climbing 10 spots to 20th position.

Test cricket continues for Pakistan and Australia in November and December as they turn their attentions to the visit of New Zealand and India, respectively.

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 4 November, after Abu Dhabi Test)

Batsmen

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

   1         ( - )        K. Sangakkara     SL          915       58.76    938 v Eng at Kandy 2007

   2         ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         888       51.02    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   3         ( - )        S.Chanderpaul     WI         887       53.10    901 v NZ at Napier 2008

   4         (+1)       Angelo Mathews SL          873!      52.65    873 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   5         (+1)       Hashim Amla      SA         863       51.32    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   6         (+1)       Younus Khan       Pak        860       53.49    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   7         (-3)        David Warner      Aus       858       47.47    875 v Pak at Dubai 2014

   8         (+3)       Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        818       49.38    824 v SL at Sharjah 2014

   9         (-1)        Ross Taylor         NZ         795       46.43    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

  10        (-1)        Joe Root              Eng        789!     50.94    789 v Ind at The Oval 2014

Selected Rankings

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

  11        (-1)        Michael Clarke    Aus        755       50.59    900 v SL at Melbourne 2012

  12        ( - )        Steven Smith       Aus        730       40.39    737 v SA at Cape Town 2014

  18        (+9)       Azhar Ali             Pak        671       41.22    753 v SL at Pallekele 2012

  22        (-1)        Asad Shafiq         Pak        634       37.68    680 v SA at Cape Town 2013

  24        (-6)        Chris Rogers        Aus       623*     36.06    694 v Eng at Sydney 2014

  32        (+5)       Sarfraz Ahmed    Pak        578*!    39.43    578 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014

  46        (-7)        Brad Haddin        Aus        518       34.20    637 v WI at Perth 2009

  63=      ( - )        M. Hafeez            Pak        421       33.16    595 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2012

  88        (-7)        Mitchell Johnson Aus       333       22.24    477 v Eng at Lord's 2009

  89        (-2)        Mitchell Starc     Aus        325*     28.86    368 v Eng at The Oval 2013

  94        (+84)     Mitchell Marsh   Aus        316*!    41.00    316 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014

Bowlers

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

   1         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         907        22.56    908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013

   2         ( - )        Ryan Harris         Aus        861         22.56    870 v SA at Cape Town 2014

   3         ( - )        Rangana Herath   SL          851!       29.06    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   4         ( - )        Mitchell Johnson Aus        849!       27.38    849 v Pak at Dubai 2014

   5         ( - )        James Anderson  Eng        806         29.72    813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011

   6         ( - )        V. Philander        SA          785         21.57    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   7         ( - )        Tim Southee        NZ         783         29.83    799 v WI at Kingston 2014

   8         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        774         29.90    783 v WI at Lord's 2012

   9         ( - )        Kemar Roach       WI         768!       25.98    768 v Ban at St Lucia 2014

  10        ( - )        Saeed Ajmal        Pak        754         28.10    855 v Zim at Harare 2013

Selected Rankings

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

  14        (-2)        Peter Siddle         Aus        691         30.20   816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013

  24        (-3)        Nathan Lyon        Aus        538         35.80   648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013

  36        (+29)     Yasir Shah           Pak        400*!     17.25    400 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014

  38        (-1)        Mitchell Starc     Aus        394*      35.34    432 v Eng at The Oval 2013

  40        (+13)     Zulfiqar Babar     Pak        385*!     31.65    385 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014

  54        (+5)       M. Hafeez            Pak        324*      33.94    358 v SA at Cape Town 2013

  72        (+7)       Rahat Ali             Pak         236*     43.00    271 v Zim at Harare 2013

  85        (+3)       Steven Smith       Aus        181*!    48.00    181 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014

  86        (+25)     Imran Khan          Pak        163*!    30.40    163 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014

All-rounders

Rank     (+/-)       Player                Team     Points    HS Rating

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         357*/     419 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   2         ( - )        V. Philander         SA         348*/     376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

   3         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        346        404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011

   4         (+1)       Stuart Broad        Eng        296         382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

  5          (-1)        M. Johnson          Aus        281        384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

Selected Rankings:

  19        (+4)       M. Hafeez            Pak        136/*    199 v SA at Johannesburg 2013

  20        (+10)     Steven Smith       Aus        132 /*!  132 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014