Saim Ayub and Ishan Kishan - (Source: X.com)
On Wednesday, February 4, the ICC updated their weekly ranking charts. Pakistan star Saim Ayub alongside rest of the squad were rewarded heavily for scintillating performance against Australia in the recently concluded three-match T20I series at home. Notably, the update has come at a time when ICC and PCB are in a major standoff.
For the unversed, The T20 World Cup 2026 begins from February 8. For the upcoming event, Bangladesh were kicked out of the tournament because of their unreasonable demand to shift matches out of India. Notably, it forced Pakistan to take a moral stand as they had earlier promised BCB of support.
In result, PCB held a meeting with their PM, where it was decided that Pakistan will play T20 World Cup 2026 but boycott India match on February 15.
Saim Ayub becomes new No.1 all-rounder in T20Is
Saim Ayub has regained the No.1 title in the T20I all-rounder category, replacing Sikandar Raza. The 23-year-old had a great series and scored 119 runs in three innings, averaging 39.67. Even with the ball, Ayub picked up three wickets in two innings.
In the latest rankings, Saim Ayub has a rating of 290, just one more than Sikandar Raza, who now drops to second spot. Other than Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz has also climbed two spots and now rank 4th on the list.
Salman Agha and rest of Pakistan stars gain big in ICC T20I rankings
Not just Saim Ayub, but rest of the Pakistan squad has also gained big in the ranking. Shadab Khan, who had a brilliant series with 4 wickets in three innings, has climbed 13 spots in the all-rounder category to now rank 26th.
Saim Ayub has also gained big in the batters ranking and jumped 8 spots to rank joint 28th best batter in T20Is. He shares the spot with his country's captain Salman Agha, who is enjoying the best phase of his career.
Agha Salman has 120 runs in three innings, with a strike-rate of 171.43. Agha jumped 29 places and now has 589 rating points.
In the bowler's category, Abrar Ahmed has also rose two places and has closed the gap with Varun Chakaravarthy to rank 2nd in the bowler's category. Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi has jumped five places to 19th spot.
Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan sees dip in ranking
It was a brilliant series for Pakistan as they whitewashed Australia at home. However, Babar Azam and Sahibzada Farhan had a disappointing run, which saw them drop ranks in the ranking. The 31-year-old amassed just 76 runs in three innings, averaging 38.00.
Babar has now dropped three more spots to rank 34th on the list. Sahibzada, on the other hand, is going through a rough patch and amassed just five runs in two matches. As a result, the 29-year-old is now 7th on the batting list.
Ishan Kishan jumps 32 ranks in T20I rankings
Not just Pakistan stars, but Indian players too enjoyed a good run in the last week, particularly, Ishan Kishan, who smashed his maiden T20I century in the fifth match against New Zealand in Kerala.
As a result, Kishan has jumped 32 ranks to now sit on the 32nd spot with 765 rating points. The 27-year-old played four matches against New Zealand, where he scored 215 runs, averaging 53.75.
Interestingly, Ishan was still not saw the highest jump in the batters ranking as Ryan Rickelton jumped 42 places to sit on 40th place. Notably, Rickelton featured for South Africa against West Indies, where he scored 132 runs in three innings, averaging 132.
