Independence Cup provides players opportunity to boost T20 I rankings

The Faf du Plessis-led World XI side has five players from South Africa and also a selection of big names from six other Test playing countries in a series that has been given T20I status and hence performances will count in the calculation of individual rankings.

Not surprisingly, the high-profile T20I series brings together several top-level competitors including three of the top five bowlers in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Players Rankings getting to display their wares. Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Imad Wasim leads the T20I rankings table for bowlers while two former number-one bowlers feature in the World XI side.

Imad is way ahead of others at a career-best 780 points as of now, but leg-spinners Imran Tahir of South Africa and Samuel Badree of the West Indies, currently in second and fifth places, respectively, will also be eyeing the opportunity of doing well for the World XI and moving up the rankings. Tahir is presently on 744 points while Badree is on 714 points.

Tahir has spent 269 days as the top-ranked T20I bowler from September 2016 to June 2017 while Badree has spent most time at the top with a total of 785 days. He reached the top for the first time in March 2014 while his most recent stint as the top-ranked bowler was in September 2016.

In the rankings for batsmen, du Plessis is the top-ranked player from either side at eighth position while his compatriot Hashim Amla (15th) and Bangladesh’s left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal (41st) are the other prominent names in terms of rankings for the visiting side. Babar Azam (27th) and Shoaib Malik (34th) are the leading batsmen for the home side.

MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings (as on 10 September, before the Pakistan v World XI series in Lahore):

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank   Player              Team      Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

     1      Virat Kohli         Ind        826      53.82   897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014

     2      Aaron Finch      Aus      787      38.64   892 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

     3      K. Williamson    NZ        745       36.29   760 v Ban at Napier 2017

     4      Evin Lewis        WI        723*!    34.75   723 v Ind at Jamaica 2017

     5      Glenn Maxwell   Aus      718      29.35   763 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016

     6      Joe Root           Eng      699      40.33   750 v WI at Kolkata 2016

     7      Alex Hales        Eng      674      32.68   866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014

     8=    Faf du Plessis   SA        664      37.63   843 v Ban at Mirpur 2015

            M. Shahzad       Afg       664      32.34   706 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017

    10     H. Masakadza   Zim       657      29.43   699 v Ban at Khulna 2016

Other selected rankings

  Rank    Player             Team     Pts        Avge   Highest Rating

    15       Hashim Amla   SA        602      32.42   657 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

    27       Babar Azam    Pak      539*!    50.60   539 v WI at Trinidad 2017

    34       Shoaib Malik   Pak      517      28.01   577 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009

    41=     Tamim Iqbal    Ban      489      23.56   550 v SL at Chittagong 2014

    69=      T. Perera        SL        377      22.16   449 v Eng at Delhi 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank    Player              Team      Pts      Avge     Highest Rating

   1        Imad Wasim      Pak      780!     16.73   780 v WI at Trinidad 2017

   2        Imran Tahir        SA        744       14.81   795 v NZ at Auckland 2017

   3        Jasprit Bumrah  Ind        737       18.38   764 v Eng at Bengaluru 2017

   4        Rashid Khan     Afg       717!     14.35   717 v WI at St Kitts 2017

   5        Samuel Badree WI        714      17.12   855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014

   6        M. Rahman       Ban      695*!    14.92   695 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017

   7        J. Faulkner        Aus      688!     19.00   688 v SL at Adelaide 2017

   8        Sunil Narine       WI        652      21.22   817 v Pak at St. Vincent 2013

   9        S. Al Hasan       Ban      648      20.82   672 v Pak at Mirpur 2014

  10=     R. Ashwin         Ind        626      22.94   765 v SL at Visakhapatnam 2016

            M. Naveed        UAE     626      17.27   632 v Afg at Dubai (GCA) 2016

Other selected rankings

Rank    Player               Team     Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

60        M. Amir             Pak      447      23.79   700 v Aus at Edgbaston 2010

79        Shoaib Malik     Pak      373      23.04   414 v Eng at Sharjah 2015

92        Thisara Perera   SL        344      29.08   462 v Pak at Colombo (RPS) 2015

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    Player              Team      Pts       Highest Rating

   1        S. Al Hasan       Ban      354      408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015

   2        Glenn Maxwell   Aus      344      388 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016

   3=      M. Samuels       WI        275      321 v SL at Mirpur 2014

            M. Nabi              Afg      275      286 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017

   5        Mahmudullah     Ban      203!     203 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017

Image: PCB Official Twitter page