Jofra Archer has made a massive leap in the ICC ODI bowling rankings after back-to-back stellar performances against South Africa. The English pacer has reached a career-best third place, marking his first time inside the top five.
In the latest ICC update released on Wednesday, Archer climbed 16 spots to secure the third position, just five points behind Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who sits second with 659 points. At the top remains South African spinner Keshav Maharaj with 680 points.
Before this, Archer’s highest ranking was eighth, achieved in September 2020. His recent success comes after outstanding spells in the ODI series against South Africa. In the second ODI, he took 4 wickets for 62 runs, emerging as England’s most successful bowler, although the visitors lost by five runs.
He followed it up with a match-winning performance in the third ODI, claiming 4 wickets for just 18 runs in nine overs, earning the Player of the Match award. England bowled South Africa out for just 72 and went on to record the biggest ODI win in history, triumphing by 342 runs.
Among other English players, Adil Rashid moved up seven spots to eighth after taking five wickets in the last two ODIs, while Brydon Carse climbed 12 places to 93rd.
For Bangladesh, Taskin Ahmed advanced two positions to 24th, Mustafizur Rahman climbed to 46th, and Nasum Ahmed moved up three spots to joint 80th.
In the ODI batting rankings, India’s Shubman Gill remains at the top, while England’s Joe Root rose five places to 19th after scoring a century. Bangladesh’s Najmul Hossain Shanto is now ranked 31st, moving up two spots, while Towhid Hridoy has climbed to 50th.
Elsewhere, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza continues to lead the ODI all-rounder rankings. In T20I updates, Pakistan’s Sufiyan Muqeem jumped seven spots to 15th among bowlers, while Mohammad Nawaz climbed 13 places to 30th after taking 10 wickets, including a hat-trick, to help Pakistan beat Afghanistan in the UAE tri-series final.
Afghanistan’s young spinner Noor Ahmad rose 40 places to joint 33rd, alongside South Africa’s Anrich Nortje.
In the T20I batting rankings, India’s Abhishek Sharma holds the top spot, while Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera moved up three positions to ninth after a strong performance against Zimbabwe.
