Banton, Hafeez make massive jump in T20I Rankings

Manchester: England opener Tom Banton and Pakistan's experienced middle-order batsman Mohammad Hafeez have made significant gains in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings released on Wednesday after their fine showing in the three-match series that ended in a 1-1 draw on Tuesday. 

Banton's tally of 137 runs, including a knock of 71 in the washed out opening match, saw him gain an astounding 152 places to reach 43rd position. Hafeez took the spot behind him, moving up from 68th to 44th after topping the series with 155 runs including a player of the match effort of 86 not out in the final match at Old Trafford.

Dawid Malan, who enjoyed a career-best ranking of second in November last year, moved back into the top five after aggregating 84 runs in the series while Jonny Bairstow also gained one place to reach a career-best 22nd position.

Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan's five wickets, including a haul of three for 34 in the second match, have lifted him one place to eighth position.

Tom Curran of England and Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan have both moved up the list to take joint-20th position. Curran has gained seven slots and Shaheen 14 places after picking up two wickets each in the series. Wahab Riaz (up 18 places to 107th) and Haris Rauf (up 25 places to 157th) were the others to gain in the latest rankings update.

Shaheryar Butt of Belgium was a notable gainer from the Luxembourg T20 Tri-Series, gaining 351 slots to reach 105th position after a fine run that saw him score 125 not out and 81 not out against the Czech Republic and Luxembourg, respectively, on the same day. Sudesh Wickramasekara of the Czech Republic has gained the most among bowlers from the series, advancing 61 slots to reach 290th position.

In the T20I Team Rankings, England remain in second position India are at third and Pakistan fourth in the list led by Australia.(UNI)