Ireland's Tim Murtagh achieves career-high bowling ranking

Tim Murtagh has achieved a career-high position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers after Ireland came from behind to beat Afghanistan by 2-1 in the three-match series, which concluded in Sharjah on Sunday.

The 36-year-old claimed three for 28, one for 28 and one for 27, a series performance which has lifted him from 33rd position to 21st place in the latest rankings.

The series win has not only allowed 12th-ranked Ireland vault from 41 points to 44 points, but has also pushed Afghanistan from 10th position to 11th after the Asian side finished on 51 points after having started on 54 points. Zimbabwe is now 11th on 52 points – one ahead of Afghanistan.

Barry McCarthy is the other Ireland bowler to head in the right direction. Following his five for 46 in the second match and three for 32 in the last match, the 25-year-old fast bowler has entered the top 100 in 95th position after rising 18 places.

The bowlers’ list is headed by Hasan Ali of Pakistan, who is followed by South Africa’s Imran Tahir and Jasprit Bumrah of India.

In the batting table, Ireland’s Paul Stirling has moved up one place to 34th following his scores of five, 82 and 101. India’s Virat Kohli is the number-one ranked batsman, while AB de Villiers of South Africa and David Warner of Australia are ranked second and third, respectively.

In the all-rounders’ list, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan has made an impressive gain of 11 places and is now in 14th place after finishing as Afghanistan’s most impressive player in the series. With 108 runs, he was the second best batsman behind Rahmat Shah (126 runs), while he was the joint-leading wicket-taker with seven wickets along with Mujeeb Zadran.

Stirling has also improved his ranking and after rising four places, he is now in 15th position, three points behind Rashid.

Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan is the number-one ranked all-rounder, and he is followed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.