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Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi spearhead Pakistan surge in T20I rankings before World Cup

Aakash Saini

Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi [Source: @RayhamUnplugged/x, AFP]Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi [Source: @RayhamUnplugged/x, AFP]

Riding on their recent T20I series triumph over South Africa, several Pakistan players witnessed a notable surge in the latest ICC rankings, with key performers Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi leading the charge ahead of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Babar Azam in particular, in his comeback series, struck a measured 47-ball 68 in the series-deciding third T20I in Lahore as Pakistan clinched the three-match rubber 2-1. Pace maverick Shaheen Afridi also picked up five wickets in three games as both he and Babar rose up the latest ICC T20I charts.

Babar Azam rises, Salman Mirza biggest gainer

Blistering opener Sahibzada Farhan continues to remain the highest-ranking Pakistani batter. After finishing the South Africa series with 71 runs in three innings, the 29-year-old retained his position at number 11 on the latest ICC T20I rankings for batters.

Senior man Babar Azam jumped nine places to number 30 in his comeback T20I series, while young Saim Ayub gained 10 rungs to climb to 39th position following his 71*-run knock in Lahore. T20I captain Salman Agha also surpassed 10 batters to secure 54th position on the latest ICC charts.

Mohammad Rizwan, who continues to remain on the sidelines, dropped from 40 to number 42 among ICC T20I batters.

Among the bowlers, ace spinner Abrar Ahmed retained his eighth position to remain Pakistan’s highest-ranked T20I bowler. Shaheen Afridi jumped to number 13 after picking up five wickets in three innings, while spinner Mohammad Nawaz gained a rung to be ranked 32.

Interestingly, express pacemen Salman Mirza and Faheem Ashraf were the biggest benefactors on the latest ICC rankings for bowlers. While Salman climbed a staggering 98 spots to jump to 45th position after picking up four South African wickets in two innings, Faheem gained 50 rungs after his six-wicket series haul to become the 51st best bowler in the world.

Pakistan players can make further gains on the ICC T20I rankings as they are slated to host Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka for a T20I tri-series at home later this month.