Ireland opener Ed Joyce has vaulted 18 places to 24th spot in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen following a stellar performance in the five-match series against Afghanistan which ended in a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old left-hander slammed a career-best 160 not out to help level the series in the fifth ODI, having also notched an unbeaten 105 in the third match, aggregating 339 runs in the series.
Joyce has now become the highest-ranked batsman from the non-Test playing countries. He has leapfrogged Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad, who has retained his 34th ranking, and team-mate Paul Stirling, who has slipped five places to 41st position.
Ireland all-rounder Kevin O’Brien has gained one place to move to 43rd spot after scoring 145 runs in the series even as quite a few Afghanistan batsmen have made significant gains in the rankings, which are led by South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
Mohammad Nabi has gained one spot to move to 55th place after scoring 120 runs in the series, Rashid Khan was the biggest gainer with his total of 142 runs that have helped him move up 141 places to 129th spot, while Dawlat Zadran has gained 24 places to move to 178th position.
Kevin O’Brien has also moved up in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers, his 10 wickets in the series lifting him 15 places to 68th position. Tim Murtagh has moved from 59th to 52nd spot, Paul Stirling has gained three places and is now in 73rd place and Andy McBrine has lifted from 111th to 116th position.
Rashid made the tour a memorable one for himself when he also finished with seven wickets in the series, including a career-best four for 21 in the fourth ODI. Consequently, the 17-year-old leg-spinner has broken into the top 100 for the first time in his career as he has moved up 22 places to 92nd spot in the latest rankings, which are currently led by West Indies spinner Sunil Narine.
In the list of all-rounders, Nabi has retained the seventh spot while Kevin O’Brien has moved up two places to take joint 12th spot along with compatriot Stirling.
In the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings, Afghanistan and Ireland have retained their pre-series 10th and 12th rankings, respectively. However, the gap between the two sides has trimmed from 10 to six points after Afghanistan dropped two points and Ireland gained two points to finish on 49 and 43 points, respectively.
