Pakistan's Rankings Surge: How Salman Agha, Haris Rauf Made Big ICC Gains

Pakistan followed up their success against South Africa at home with a winning start to the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

The narrow win at Rawalpindi saw Salman Agha (105 off 87) and Hussain Talat (62 off 63) contribute towards the winning total, and the duo were amongst the big gainers in the recent ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings, according to ICC.

Salman jumped 14 spots to sit in 16th place on the table (at 639 rating points, which is the best-ever for him) following his match-winning knock against Sri Lanka.

Another improver for Team in Green was Saim Ayub, who didn't get going against Sri Lanka but had back-to-back half-centuries in the series win against South Africa last week and improved by 18 spots to sit at equal 35th.

Speedster Haris Rauf, who was playing just his second international since the Asia Cup Final, starred with a four-wicket haul against Sri Lanka, and improved by three spots in the ICC Men's ODI Bowling Rankings. He sits in 28th place now.

Another big improver among the Pakistan bowlers was made by leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, who, despite not featuring in the fixture against Sri Lanka, jumped by 17 rungs.

Abrar had starred with a career-best ODI performance in the ODI series decider against South Africa, and picked up 4/27 to set up Pakistan's win.

South Africa's Quinton de Kock, who made his international comeback recently, was in fine form against Pakistan and hit a score over fifty in all three ODIs. He jumped four spots to sit in 15th place in the batting rankings.

Another big gainer was Wanindu Hasaranga, who excelled with both bat and ball in Rawalpindi, picking up 3/54 before smashing a feisty 59 lower down the order.

The Sri Lankan gained 14 places in the ODI Batting Rankings and currently sits in 116, according to ICC.

He also jumped a spot in the bowling rankings (to sit in ninth), and continues to remain in the top 10 positions of the ICC Men's ODI All-Rounder Rankings.

In the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings, Jacob Duffy stood out following his exploits with the ball in New Zealand's close wins over West Indies.

Duffy has six wickets from four games in the series and jumped six spots in the ICC Men's T20I Bowling Rankings. He sits behind India's Varun Chakaravarthy and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan at No.3 overall.

- ANI