Rahmat advances 88 places after scripting Afghanistan's maiden Test win
- Yamin, Rashid, O’Brien and Murtagh others to gain after Dehradun Test match.
The 25-year-old has advanced 88 places to reach 89th position in the rankings after scores of 98 and 76. The player of the match in his country’s second Test is now the highest-ranked batsman from his team, ahead of captain Asghar Afghan, who is in 106th place after gaining 24 places with a knock of 67. Hashmatullah Shahidi is another Afghanistan batsman to advance, moving up three slots to 110.
Fast bowler Yamin Ahmadzai and leg-spinner Rashid Khan have made rapid strides in the bowlers’ list.
Yamin, who grabbed three wickets in Afghanistan’s inaugural Test against India last year, has gained 45 places to reach 50th position after finishing with six wickets in Dehradun. Rashid, who is top-ranked in T20Is and third in ODIs, has gained 50 places to reach 67th position after claiming seven wickets including the first five-wicket Test haul by an Afghanistan bowler.
Remarkable Rahmat, resplendent @rashidkhan_19 clinch historic Test win for Afghanistan as they beat Ireland by 7 wickets to secure the team’s first-ever win in Test cricket.
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) March 18, 2019
Read more: https://t.co/Kl9GSeV2fk#AFGvIRE pic.twitter.com/ZzeaNNkf8O
For Ireland, Kevin O-Brien has moved up four places to 68th while fast bowler Tim Murtagh has also gained in the list for batsmen after a rare Test half-century batting at No.11, his scores of 54* and 27 lifting him 59 places to 140th.
Debutant Andy Balbirnie has gained 73 slots to reach 145th position after a second-innings knock of 82 while among bowlers, Stuart Thompson has gained 18 slots to reach 64th position after taking three wickets in the match.
The second Test for both teams meant a step towards a full place in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, for which they need another six matches.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 19 March 2019)
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( - ) | Virat Kohli | India | 922 | 53.76 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 2 | ( - ) | K Williamson | NZ | 913 | 53.38 | 915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019 |
| 3 | ( - ) | C Pujara | India | 881 | 51.18 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 4 | ( - ) | Steve Smith | Aus | 857 | 61.37 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 5 | ( - ) | Henry Nicholls | NZ | 778*! | 45.75 | 778 v Ban at Wellington 2019 |
| 6 | ( - ) | Joe Root | Eng | 763 | 49.51 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 7 | ( - ) | David Warner | Aus | 756 | 48.2 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 8 | ( - ) | A Markram | SA | 719* | 43.8 | 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 9 | ( - ) | Q de Kock | SA | 718 | 39.31 | 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017 |
| 10 | ( - ) | Faf du Plessis | SA | 702 | 42.95 | 734 v India at Centurion 2018 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 68 | (+4) | Kevin O'Brien | Ire | 448*! | 56.5 | 448 v Afg at Dehradun 2019 |
| 89= | (+88) | Rahmat Shah | Afg | 378*! | 48 | 378 v Ire at Dehradun 2019 |
| 106 | (+24) | Asghar Afghan | Afg | 300*! | 34.33 | 300 v Ire at Dehradun 2019 |
| 110 | (+3) | H Shahidi | Afg | 288*! | 56 | 288 v Ire at Dehradun 2019 |
| 140= | (+59) | Tim Murtagh | Ire | 183*! | 45.5 | 183 v Afg at Dehradun 2019 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( - ) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 878*! | 22.02 | 878 v SL at Canberra 2019 |
| 2 | ( - ) | J Anderson | Eng | 862 | 26.93 | 903 v India at Lord's 2018 |
| 3 | ( - ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 851 | 21.77 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 4 | ( - ) | V Philander | SA | 813 | 21.64 | 912 v India at Johannesburg 2013 |
| 5 | ( - ) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 801! | 27.51 | 801 v Ban at Wellington 2019 |
| 6 | ( - ) | R Jadeja | India | 794 | 23.68 | 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017 |
| 7 | ( - ) | Trent Boult | NZ | 787 | 27.54 | 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015 |
| 8= | ( - ) | Jason Holder | WI | 770* | 27.69 | 778 v Eng at Antigua 2019 |
| ( - ) | M Abbas | Pak | 770* | 18.86 | 838 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2018 | |
| 10 | ( - ) | R Ashwin | India | 763 | 25.43 | 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 50 | (+45) | Y Ahmadzai | Afg | 332*! | 16 | 332 v Ire at Dehradun 2019 |
| 64= | (+18) | S Thompson | Ire | 253*! | 18.57 | 253 v Afg at Dehradun 2019 |
| 67 | (+50) | Rashid Khan | Afg | 239*! | 28.44 | 239 v Ire at Dehradun 2019 |
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( - ) | Jason Holder | WI | 439/* | 448 v Eng at Antigua 2019 |
| 2 | ( - ) | S Al Hasan | Ban | 399 | 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
| 3 | ( - ) | R Jadeja | India | 387 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 4 | ( - ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 357 | 395 v WI at Lord's 2017 |
| 5 | ( - ) | V Philander | SA | 326 | 377 v SL at Galle 2018 |
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating
For more information on player rankings, please click here.