KARACHI: Third-ranked Pakistan must beat Bangladesh in the second and final Test starting in Dhaka on Wednesday to retain their Test ranking, the Interna­tional Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday.

Should Pakistan succeed in doing so, Misbah-ul-Haq’s side will fall to 102 points but will be ranked above England when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Conversely, a Bangladesh win would see Pakistan drop behind England (102) and New Zealand (99) into fifth position on 96 points, while if the Test is drawn, then Pakistan will join New Zealand on 99 points but will be ranked above the Black Caps by a fraction of a point.

Read: Pakistan cruise to number three in Test rankings

England have slipped one place to fourth in the rankings following their five-wicket defeat in the Barbados Test, which has helped the West Indies to level the three-Test series 1-1.

England had entered the three-Test series in third place on 104 points, while the West Indies had begun in eighth spot on 76 points.

But following Sunday’s result, Alastair Cook’s men have dropped behind Pakistan into fourth position, while the West Indies, after gaining three points, has reduced with gap with seventh-placed India to 14 points.

Meanwhile, the annual Test team rankings update like last week’s ODI and T20I tables will be carried out after the Dhaka Test.

Also read: Tamim, Imrul thwart Pakistan with record opening stand

In the meantime, double-centurions from the Khulna Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan have made upward movements in the latest ICC player rankings for Test batsmen.

Tamim Iqbal, who scored a Test best 206 and won the man-of-the-match award, has gained eight places to join Pakistan wicket-keeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed in 26th place (up by three places), while Mohammad Hafeez’s highest Test score of 224 has propelled him eight places to a career-high 34th.

Also read: Windies show promise in drawn England series

Pakistan’s middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career after rising three places to 18th following his sore of 82.

Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes is also on a charge, having rocketed 24 places to a career-best 67th after scores of 51 and 150, while Mominul Haque has also moved up two places to a career-high 23rd position following scores of 80 and 21.

In player rankings for Test bowlers, Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has moved to a career high 31st after claiming match figures of 6-163 although his team-mate Shakib Al Hasan has dropped two places to 15th.

Jermaine Blackwood is the biggest mover in the rankings following scores of 85 and 47 not out which have helped him leap 31 places to a career-high 37th spot.

Blackwood enjoyed a match-winning 108-run fifth wicket partnership with Darren Bravo whose second innings contribution of 82 has put him up three places to 29th.

Cook’s first innings score of 105 has promoted the England captain five places to 22nd, although there were declines for the likes of Joe Root (down two places to seventh), Gary Ballance (down two places to 19th), Ian Bell (down nine places to 30th) and Jonathan Trott (down six places to 47th).

In the bowling rankings, there were significant gains for three West Indies bowlers.

Jerome Taylor has moved up 13 places to 36th after claiming match figures of 6-69, Shannon Gabriel’s match tally of 3-63 has vaulted him seven places to 50th position but the biggest mover is Jason Holder whose 5-49 in the match has launched him 30 places to a career-high 51st position.

Test team rankings (as on May 4): 1. South Africa 124 points; 2. Australia 119, 3. Pakistan 103, 4. England 102, 5. New Zealand 99, 6. Sri Lanka 96, 7. India 93, 8. West Indies 79, 9. Bangladesh 32, 10. Zimbabwe 18.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2015

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