Pakistan fell to their worst Test ranking in nearly six decades on Wednesday, the International Cricket Council said, after their shock 2-0 series defeat to low-ranked Bangladesh. Bangladesh inflicted a six-wicket defeat on the home team in the second Test in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, their first series win against Pakistan. “Pakistan dropped two places — from sixth to eighth — in the Test rankings after suffering a shock series loss at home to Bangladesh,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
The ICC said it was “their lowest rankings since 1965” in the 12-team table, which is topped by Australia followed by India and England. This is the first time in 59 years that Pakistan have gone so low. Bangladesh are ninth in the latest rankings.
There are now no Pakistan bowlers ranked in the top 10 after paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi fell to 11th from his ninth place before the Bangladesh series. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is the only Pakistani remaining in the top 10 batting rankings, while Babar Azam dropped three places to 12th.
Azam managed just 64 runs in the two Tests against Bangladesh.
In the opening Test match of the series, Pakistan had their backs against the wall, with Bangladesh playing a much more aggressive brand of cricket.
Pakistan struggled to understand the nature of the surface that was on offer and succumbed to a 10-wicket defeat.
With a 1-0 lead in their hand, Bangladesh once again stepped into the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, looking to create more history on Pakistani soil.
After the first day was lost to bad light and rain, Pakistan had a firm grip on the second Test after reducing Bangladesh to 26/6 with Khurram Shahzad leading the charge.
Litton Das (138) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (78) pulled out Bangladesh from a peculiar situation with a partnership that will be remembered for ages. The duo forged a 165-run stand to change the dynamics of the game.
An inspired bowling performance from Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana saw Bangladesh rattle Pakistan’s batting unit. The pace duo combined to pick nine wickets.
With 185 on board, Pakistan bowlers bowled with discipline but lacked the attacking tenacity to cause trouble to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh cruised to a comfortable six-wicket win to script a historic whitewash over Pakistan.
The impact of the result changed the entire outlook of the ICC World Test Championship standings.
With a 2-0 series win, Bangladesh leapfrogged England to number four with a point percentage of 45.83.
Meanwhile, with two wins in seven matches, Pakistan dropped to the eighth position with a point percentage of 19.05.
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