The ICC announced the updated rankings of both men's and women's cricketers on Wednesday, August 20. Pakistani cricketers suffered noticeable drops after their embarrassing defeat against Bangladesh in the first Test match on August 25.
Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan's top-ranked bowler in the Test rankings, slipped two positions down to tenth place after a poor show in Rawalpindi. The star left-arm pacer managed to claim just two wickets across two innings as Bangladesh scripted their maiden Test triumph against Pakistan with a 10-wicket win.
Shaheen remains Pakistan's only player in the top 30 of the ICC men's Test bowling rankings. However, the young pacer Naseem Shah witnessed a surprise boost in the rankings despite returning with just three wickets across two innings in the first Test.
Naseem jumped four places to the 33rd position in the updated rankings while Hasan Ali remains in the 31st in the list. Shaheen's two-position drop was the only change in the top ten as India's star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continues to dominate the position in the Test bowling rankings.
In the ODI bowling rankings, South African veteran Keshav Maharaj stays on top followed by the Australian pair of Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa. Shaheen holds his seventh position and is the only Pakistan bowler in the top 20 ODI list.
However, there were major changes to the T20 bowling rankings after West Indies' 3-0 series win against South Africa. Spinners Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein stormed into the top three after their match-winning performances against the Proteas.
Motie jumped ten places to go third and Hosein climbed four places to take the second spot in the updated men's T20 bowling rankings. England's experienced spinner Adil Rashid held his top position with the highest rating of 718. Shaheen remains Pakistan's top-ranked bowled in T20s as he witnessed a two-place jump to the 12th position on Wednesday.
