Azhar Ali joins Sachin Tendulkar in 10th position by International Cricket Council

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Event:

England in United Arab Emirates 2011/12

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DateLine: 7th February 2012

 

ICC Media Release

 

Azhar Ali joins Sachin Tendulkar in 10th position
Left-arm spinners Abdur Rehman and Monty Panesar make upward movements

 

Pakistan’s young gun Azhar Ali has not only claimed a career-best ranking but has also achieved the distinction of sharing 10th position with India’s iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen which were updated after the Dubai Test which finished on Monday.

 

Azhar Ali scored 157 in Pakistan’s second innings score of 365 which set England a target of 324. England finished 71 runs short when it was bowled out for 252 to suffer a 3-0 whitewash – its first against Pakistan in 22 series.

 

For making his highest first-class score, Azhar was not only declared the man of the match but was also rewarded with a jump of 12 places in the batting table which has given him a place alongside Tendulkar.

 

For someone like Azhar Ali, who was first picked as a fast bowler in the Pakistan Under-19 squad in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2002, this is a huge turnaround in his career.

 

Azhar, who was shortlisted for the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Award at the LG ICC Awards in London in 2011, featured in a match-winning 216-run third wicket partnership with Pakistan’s most experienced batsman Younus Khan. Younus’ contribution in that stand was 127, which was his 20th Test century.

 

For this, the 34-year-old has made a jump of five places which puts him back in the fifth position. Younus had dropped six places to 10th spot after the Abu Dhabi Test following scores of 24 and one.

 

England captain Andrew Strauss and Pakistan’s other youngster Asad Shafiq have also made gains. Strauss has lifted five places to 28th position after scores of 56 and 25, while Shafiq, who scored 45 in Pakistan’s first innings score of 99 all-out, has moved up four places to 43rd spot.

 

Batsmen losing ground include Alastair Cook in sixth (down by one), Misbah-ul-Haq in 12th (down by four), Jonathon Trott in 13th (down by seven), Ian Bell in 17th (down by five), Kevin Pietersen in 20th (down by one), Matt Prior in 22nd (down by one), Mohammad Hafeez in 33rd (down by three), Taufeeq Umar in 41st (down by six), Stuart Broad in 48th (down by two) and Adnan Akmal in 83rd (down by 11).

 

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman has maintained an upward movement and has gained two more places after figures of five for 40 and two for 97. He now sits pretty in seventh position. The 31-year-old from Sialkot had entered the series in 19th position and after finishing with 19 wickets, he has managed to gain 12 places in the bowlers’ chart. Abdur Rehman alone earned 29 ratings points from the third Test and now trails England’s sixth-ranked Graeme Swann by the smallest margin of one ratings point.

 

England’s Monty Panesar is the other left-arm spinner to head in the right direction. Panesar had figures of two for 25 and five for 125, efforts which were enough to earn him four places and 30th spot on the bowlers’ chart.

 

Saeed Ajmal, who won the player of the series award for claiming 24 wickets in the series, has consolidated his second position while achieving his career-best rating of 835. Saeed had entered the series in 12th position, trailing number-one ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa by 190 ratings points. This lead has now been trimmed to 61 ratings points.

 

Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has gained one place on the bowlers’ table and he is now in 15th position. While doing so, he has also achieved a career-best rating of 624 ratings points.

 

For the detailed Reliance ICC Test Rankings (after third Test in Dubai) please Click Here

 

For further information, please contact:
Sami-ul-Hasan
ICC - Media and Communications Operations Manager
Dubai Mobile: +971 50 452 8662 Email: sami.ulhasan@icc-cricket.com

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2012 International Cricket Council)