Abdullah Shafique climbs remarkably in ICC Rankings.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani opener Abdullah Shafique has ascended outstandingly in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's Test Player Rankings after superb performance in the first Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test of the ICC World Test Championship series at Galle.

Abdullah, who was declared Player of the Match for his second innings knock of 160, has amassed 720 runs in his first six Tests, advanced 23 slots to reach 16th position with a Pakistan record of 671 rating points, said a press release.

The previous best by a Pakistan batter after six Tests was Saeed Ahmed's 614 rating points and only two batters have ever had more points after six Tests - Sunil Gavaskar (692) and Donald Bradman (687).

Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, whose 21 wickets rank him joint-third in terms of most wickets after two Tests, has moved up 11 places to 44th position with 481 rating points, the fourth highest by any bowler after two Tests. Narendra Hirwani (519), Alec Bedser (500) and Bob Massie (494) had higher rating points after two Tests.

Pakistani Skipper Babar Azam's scores of 119 and 55 see him overtake Australia's Steve Smith to reach a career high third ranking with a career best rating of 874 points. Babar was currently top ranked in both ODIs and T20Is and remains the only batter in the top 10 of all three lists.

Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi was another Pakistan player to gain in the latest weekly update, moving up one place to a career best-equaling third position after grabbing four wickets in the first innings. Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah have gained a slot each to reach 13th and 32nd positions, respectively.

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal has gained 11 slots to reach 18th position after scores of 76 and 94 not out while Kusal...

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