Sikandar Raza has reached a career-high, becoming the top-ranked all-rounder in the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings. The veteran Zimbabwean climbed to the summit after a pair of outstanding performances in his country’s recent ODI series against Sri Lanka. This is the first time he has surpassed the 300-point mark in his all-rounder rating, overtaking Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai to claim the top spot.
Raza's rise is a direct result of his impressive contributions with both bat and ball. In the first ODI against Sri Lanka, he scored a magnificent 92 while also taking a wicket for 48 runs. In the following match, he notched an unbeaten 59 to go with his economical bowling. Despite Zimbabwe losing both matches, Raza's consistency and all-around excellence could not be ignored, earning him a 12-point jump in his rating. His performance also saw him move up nine spots in the ODI batting rankings to 22nd, surpassing well-known batsmen like Joe Root and Kane Williamson.
While Raza's feat is the headline, other players have also seen significant movement in the latest rankings update. Zimbabwe's opening batsman Ben Curran was the biggest mover in any category, rocketing up 71 spots to No. 90 in the world after scoring back-to-back half-centuries (70 and 79) against Sri Lanka.
In the ODI bowling rankings, South Africa's spinner Keshav Maharaj has taken the sole No. 1 position. For the past week, he had been tied with Sri Lanka's Maheesh Theekshana. However, Maharaj’s recent 4-22 performance against England, combined with Theekshana's wicketless series against Zimbabwe, allowed him to open up a significant lead with 690 rating points. Other movers in the bowling charts include Sri Lankan pacers Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.
The latest rankings also included updates for the T20I format. While Mohammad Nabi fell to third in the ODI all-rounder rankings, he moved up to second in the T20I all-rounder list, just behind India's Hardik Pandya. Afghan batsman Ibrahim Zadran also made a notable jump to 20th in the T20I batting rankings after a strong showing in a tri-series, while Pakistan's Sufiyan Muqeem climbed to 22nd in the T20I bowling charts.