Dubai deadlock leads to Pakistan and New Zealand advances

Sarfraz Ahmed has achieved a career-best ranking of 18th position in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were released on Saturday, following his scores of 112 and 24 not out against Brendon McCullum’s charges.

McCullum himself has broken into the top 20 and moved up two places to 19th after his innings of 43 and 45. His team-mate Tom Latham moved up 19 places to 36th position after his second Test century - 137 runs - in the first innings, while Mark Craig has vaulted 28 places into 97th after scores of 43 and 34.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, New Zealand’s Trent Boult has climbed three places to 10th position after taking four wickets for 81 runs in the match.

For Pakistan, Zulfiqar Babar gained three places and is now in a career high 28th following his match figures of eight for 233. Yasir Shah moved up five places to 30th, while Black Caps’ off-spinner Craig is another player to progress, advancing three places to 88th.

The batting table continues to be headed by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, while Dale Steyn leads the bowlers’ list. Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan is the number-one ranked all-rounder.

With Pakistan now holding a 1-0 lead in the series, the third and deciding Test will start in Sharjah on Wednesday.

Upcoming fixture

Pakistan v New Zealand
26-30 Nov – 3rd Test, Sharjah

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 22 November, after the second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand):

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         ( - )        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        862       54.03    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

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

   8         ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        805       49.81    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

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

  10        ( - )        Ross Taylor         NZ         783       45.91    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

Selected Rankings

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

16        (-1)        K. Williamson     NZ         678       38.82    728 v WI at Bridgetown 2014

  17        ( - )        Azhar Ali             Pak        672       41.88    753 v SL at Pallekele 2012

  18        (+13)     Sarfraz Ahmed    Pak        656*!    45.88    656 v NZ at Dubai 2014

  19        (+2)       B. McCullum       NZ         652       37.08    724 v Ind at Wellington 2014

  21        (+1)       Asad Shafiq         Pak        645       38.73    680 v SA at Cape Town 2013

  36        (+19)     Tom Latham        NZ         569*!    48.83    569 v Pak at Dubai 2014

  45        (-4)        B-J Watling         NZ         536       35.66    574 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2014

  61        (-4)        Jimmy Neesham  NZ         436*     44.27    519 v WI at Bridgetown 2014

  90        (-10)      Corey Anderson  NZ         330*     29.07    367 v Ind at Auckland 2014

  97        (+28)     Mark Craig          NZ         315*!    39.00    315 v Pak at Dubai 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        853       22.56    870 v SA at Cape Town 2014

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

   4         ( - )        M. Johnson          Aus        844       27.47    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         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        774       29.90    783 v WI at Lord's 2012

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

   9         ( - )        Tim Southee        NZ         758       30.33    799 v WI at Kingston 2014

  10        (+3)       Trent Boult          NZ         733*     28.06    767 v Ind at Wellington 2014

Selected Rankings

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

  28        (+3)       Zulfiqar Babar     Pak        501*!    30.09    501 v NZ at Dubai 2014

  30        (+5)       Yasir Shah           Pak        486*!    22.47    486 v NZ at Dubai 2014

  53        (-4)        Rahat Ali             Pak        330*     38.44    343 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

  69        (-7)        Corey Anderson  NZ         259*     34.23    377 v WI at Hamilton 2013

  74        ( - )        Ish Sodhi              NZ         237*!    52.83    237 v Pak at Dubai 2014

  78        ( - )        K. Williamson     NZ         215*     40.66    291 v Eng at Headingley 2013

  88        (+3)       Mark Craig          NZ         179*     55.20    256 v WI at Kingston 2014

All-rounders

Rank     Player                                Team     Points    HS Rating

   1         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        398       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

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

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

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

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

* indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating