Champions Trophy triumph helps Pakistan surge to 6th spot in ODI Rankings

Dubai [UAE], June 19 (ANI): Pakistan has moved to sixth position in the latest ICC ODI Team Rankings following their maiden Champions Trophy title win post their 180-run victory over India in the final at the Kennington Oval on Sunday. Pakistan have leapfrogged Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to move closer to direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, for which host England and the next seven highest-ranked sides as on September 30 will get straight entries. The Sarfraz Ahmed-led side gained four points to move to 95 points as its wins over higher ranked opponents in the tournament included the one in the final against India and an eight-wicket semi-final victory over England. There were no other changes in the teams standings led by South Africa, although India, England and Bangladesh have all lost a point each. In the ICC ODI Player Rankings, Pakistan pace bowler Hassan Ali and rookie opener Fakhar Zaman are among those to make huge gains. Hassan, who was named Player of the Tournament after finishing with 13 wickets including hauls of three for 19 in the final and three for 35 against England, has gained 12 positions to reach seventh rank. Mohammad Amir, who missed the semifinal due to a back spasm but picked three for 16 in the final, has gained 16 slots to reach 21st place while Junaid Khan has moved up nine places to 47th position. Fakhar Zaman's Player of the Match effort of 114 in the final and 57 in the semifinal has helped him break into the top 100 after just four ODIs as he has gained 58 positions after these two performances to reach 97th rank. Babar Azam has reached a career-best fifth position after gaining three positions with scores of 46 in the final and 30 not out in the semifinal. Mohammad Hafeez has gained two slots to reach 20th rank while opener Azhar Ali has moved up 11 slots to 31st position. For India, opener Rohit Sharma, who scored 123 not out in the semifinal, has gained three slots to reach 10th position while pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (up four places to joint-19th) and Jasprit Bumrah (up 19 places to 24th) are the others to gain. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has gained three slots to reach 15th position among bowlers while opener Tamim Iqbal has moved to 16th position among batsmen, a gain of one rank after a continued good run which saw him score 70 against India in the semifinal and finish with 293 runs in the tournament. The other losing semifinalist, England, saw its top four batsmen in the list - Joe Root (fourth), Alex Hales (17th), Eoin Morgan (18th) and Jos Buttler (19th) retain their rankings. (ANI)