Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza has moved to No. 1 among ODI all-rounders, the first time he has reached the peak. A pair of match-shaping knocks against Sri Lanka in Harare – 92 in the opener, an unbeaten 59 in the second – pushed him past Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi. He also chipped in with a wicket, a reminder that his off-spin remains part of the package.
“It’s a lovely feeling, but it’s also a reminder of the work still to be done,” Raza said in the post-series press conference. “The rankings are fluid; the challenge is to stay there.”
South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj now leads the ODI bowling list outright after sharing top spot with Maheesh Theekshana last week. Four for 22 in Leeds against England – a spell built on pace variation rather than prodigious turn – nudged the left-arm spinner clear. “He just hits that awkward length again and again,” former Proteas seamer Shaun Pollock told SuperSport. “The numbers back up what the eye sees.”
Key movers elsewhere
• Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka, Player of the Series in Zimbabwe with 198 runs, rises seven places to 13th among batters.
• Team-mate Janith Liyanage jumps 13 spots to 29th, while Zimbabwe veteran Sean Williams edges into 47th.
• In T20Is, Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran climbs to 20th, and 20-year-old Sediqullah Atal rockets 346 places to 127th after strong returns in the UAE-Pakistan tri-series.
Pakistan also enjoy small gains: Hasan Nawaz shares 31st among T20I batters, while Sufiyan Muqeem (22nd), Shaheen Shah Afridi (26th) and Mohammad Nawaz (43rd) inch forward in the bowling table. “Shaheen’s rhythm is coming back; that’s encouraging,” said former captain Misbah-ul-Haq on PTV Sports.
Perspective and next steps
Rankings fluctuate, especially in seasons packed with bilateral cricket. For Raza, the next examination comes against Bangladesh later this month; for Maharaj, a white-ball tour of New Zealand lies ahead. Both understand that staying at No. 1 often proves harder than getting there.
“Consistency, that’s the watchword,” ICC high-performance manager Graeme Labrooy noted. “A couple of quiet games and somebody else will leapfrog you. That jeopardy keeps players sharp, and fans interested.”
For now, though, Zimbabwe and South Africa can celebrate players who have quietly, methodically, reached the top of their disciplines.
