Sadia Iqbal reclaims top spot in ICC women’s T20I bowling ranking

Published May 27, 2025
Sadia Iqbal celebrates with Muneeba Ali. — PCB
Sadia Iqbal celebrates with Muneeba Ali. — PCB

Pakistan women’s left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal reclaimed her position at the top of the ICC Women’s Twenty-20 International (T20I) Bowler Rankings, Cricket’s governing body announced on Tuesday.

Sadia was also pivotal to Pakistan’s win in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Lahore and was named in the team of the tournament for her nine scalps for an average of 16.

Her economy, like her spin twin Nashra Sandhu, was under four, and this meant that the duo provided the hosts the stranglehold during the middle overs and helped them maintain an unbeaten run throughout the tournament.

“[Sadia] was one of the leading performers at last year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and rises one spot on the rankings for T20I bowlers to claim top billing”, the ICC statement said.

She replaces England spinner Sophie Ecclestone at the top spot who sat out her side’s recent T20I series at home against the West Indies. Her team-mate Lauren Bell however, rose 13 places to jump to sixth overall on the back of her seven wickets for the series against the West Indies.

For the batters, “the big winner on the rankings for T20I batters is Hayley Matthews, with the West Indies captain making some inroads on Australia’s dominance at the top of the rankings following her Player of the Series efforts against England,” the ICC added.

Last year in the T20 World Cup, Sadia Iqbal claimed three wickets for Pakistan as the Green Team beat Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka in their opening encounter of that tournament.

On the back of that match-winning performance, she subsequently became the first Pakistani woman bowler to top the ICC rankings.

Opinion

Editorial

Spoiler alert
17 Jun, 2026

Spoiler alert

AFTER the temporary peace deal between the US and Iran is physically signed in Geneva on Friday, an arduous process...
Storm-tested cities
17 Jun, 2026

Storm-tested cities

THE deaths caused by the latest spell of monsoon rains in KP and Punjab illustrate how quickly severe weather can...
Chakwal tragedy
17 Jun, 2026

Chakwal tragedy

A NINE-year-old girl is dead because a Punjab Crime Control Department gunman mistook her family’s car for a...
A new deal
Updated 16 Jun, 2026

A new deal

AFTER three and a half months of war between US-Israel and Iran and an acrimonious temporary ceasefire, a genuine...
Charter of economy
16 Jun, 2026

Charter of economy

NO one expected the PTI to accept the government’s invitation to sign a charter of economy; just as few expected...
Hostage seamen
16 Jun, 2026

Hostage seamen

SOME 50 days on, 11 Pakistani nationals are still in Somali pirates’ captivity. Their appeals to the Pakistani and...