Abrar Ahmed rises to No. 1 in ICC T20I bowling rankings

Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed has risen to the top of the ICC Men’s T20I bowling rankings for the first time in his career, ending Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s six-month reign at No. 1.

Abrar moved to the summit after Rashid slipped one rating point behind the Pakistan spinner’s tally of 736 following an unimpressive outing against India.

The 28-year-old became only the fifth Pakistan bowler to top the T20I bowling rankings, following Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Imad Wasim and Shahid Afridi.

Abrar, who has played 10 Tests, 19 ODIs and 38 T20Is for Pakistan, has taken 133 international wickets. He is also ranked second in the ODI bowling rankings, 39 rating points behind Rashid, who occupies the top position in that format.

The Karachi-born right-arm mystery spinner has featured in nine T20Is for Pakistan this year and taken 15 wickets, including six in the three-match home series against Australia, which Pakistan won 3-0 in January and February.

Abrar said the achievement fulfilled a long-held ambition of his.

“When you start playing cricket, you have only one dream to represent Pakistan. Once you achieve that, the next dream is to become world number one,” he was quoted as saying by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s digital platform.

“I feel very proud to become the world number one bowler while representing Pakistan. I will continue working hard to achieve more success and win more matches for Pakistan.”

Abrar said improving his consistency had been a particular focus of his work.

“In the past, I had variations in my bowling, but consistency was an area I needed to improve. I worked hard on my consistency and that work has helped me improve a lot,” he said.

He is currently with Pakistan’s Asian Games squad, which is undergoing a four-day training camp in Karachi ahead of the competition in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

“My aim is to perform well and help my team win matches and return to Pakistan with a gold medal,” Abrar said.