Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam has returned to the top 10 of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings after nearly two years. His rise came after Pakistan beat the West Indies by eight wickets in Port of Spain to draw the two-match Test series.

Babar scored 88 in the first innings and remained unbeaten on 24 in the second. His performances helped him climb five places to 10th in the latest rankings.

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Babar had dropped out of the top 10 in September 2024 after spending five straight years among the world’s top Test batters. His best-ever ranking is second, which he achieved during Pakistan’s home Test series against England in December 2022.

Abdullah Shafique made an even bigger jump in the rankings. The Pakistan opener was named Player of the Match after scoring an unbeaten 160 in the first innings and 24 not out in the second. He moved up 25 places to 32nd.

Shafique’s rise saw him move ahead of several well-known batters, including Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, India’s KL Rahul and Pakistan’s Salman Agha and Shan Masood.

West Indies batter Brandon King also moved up the rankings. He went from 73rd to joint-69th after scoring 46 off 50 balls in the first innings. However, he could not bat in the second innings because of a back injury.

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There were also several changes in the Test bowling rankings. West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph moved up one place to 19th after taking three wickets in the match.

Pakistan’s Sajid Khan climbed five places to 30th, while Mohammad Ali moved up eight places to 85th. Left-arm spinner Ali Usman made the biggest jump, moving 58 places to 97th.

In the ODI rankings, Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz moved up three places to 11th after scoring 32 and 71 in the second and third matches of his team’s series against Ireland.

Oman’s Hammad Mirza climbed two places to 85th, while UAE batter Rahul Chopra made a big jump of 37 places to reach joint-97th following his performances in the Cricket World Cup League 2 series in Dundee.

Ireland fast bowler Mark Adair returned to 17th in the ODI bowling rankings after taking two wickets in each of his two matches against Afghanistan. Scotland’s Brandon McMullen also made progress, moving up 10 places to joint-48th after taking three wickets each against Canada and the UAE.

The Test series result did little to improve the position of either Pakistan or the West Indies in the World Test Championship standings. Both teams remain at the bottom of the table.

Australia continue to lead the WTC standings with 87.50 percentage points after winning seven of their eight matches and losing one. South Africa are second with 75.00 points, while New Zealand sit third with 72.22.