Mohammed Siraj’s stunning six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 final has helped him return to the number 1 spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI bowling ranking.
Siraj first achieved the number 1 ranking in January this year but was replaced by Josh Hazlewood in March. The star Indian pacer has now returned to the highest echelon after the stunning show against the hosts in Colombo on Sunday when he helped bowl out the Lankans at a mere 50 runs which led to India's 10-wicket victory.
South African spinner Keshav Maharaj also jumped up 10 places to reach his career-best ranking of 15th position. Maharaj, who ended the series against Australia with 8 wickets and took a four-wicket haul in the final match, helped South Africa win the 5-match ODI series after initially losing the first two matches.
Afghan spinners Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Rashid Khan have also moved up two and three places respectively to reach the fourth and fifth positions. Chris Woakes and Lungi Ngidi, on the other hand, are now stationed at the 11th and 21st positions respectively.
On the batting front, Heinrich Klaasen’s stupendous 174 against Australia made him enter the top 10 for the first time ever while England’s Dawid Malan achieved his career-best ranking of 13 after finishing the series against New Zealand with 277 runs.
Ben Stokes’ score of 182, which is also the highest score ever by an England batter at The Oval, helped him move up 13 spots to 36th position. David Miller, Charith Asalanka, Shakib Al Hassan and Alex Cary are other batters who have moved up the rankings.
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