Masood, Woakes climb up ranking ladder after first Test exploits

Masood moved up by 14 places and he is now second-highest ranked Test batsman for Pakistan behind Babar Azam (6th). Woakes has jumped to seventh position in the list of all-rounders.

Pakistan opener Shan Masood scored 156 in the first innings against England.

Pakistan batsman Shaan Masood’s century in the first Test has propelled him to a career-best 19th place in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen while Chris Woakes’s match-winning 84-run knock in England’s chase helped him jump 18 places.

Left-hander Masood’s first-innings knock of 156 had helped Pakistan take a 107-run first innings lead. His efforts pushed him up by 14 places and he is now second-highest ranked Test batsman for Pakistan behind Babar Azam (6th). Masood’s previous best was 32nd position in February this year.

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Woakes is now ranked 78th in the batsmen’s list. He had stitched a 139-run sixth-wicket stand with Jos Buttler in England’s dramatic win.

Woakes, who scored 19 and 84 in the match, has also jumped to seventh position in the list of all-rounders.

Buttler’s innings of 38 and 75 have lifted him from 44th to 30th while Ollie Pope has attained a career-best 36th position after scoring 62 and seven.

In the bowlers’ list, Pakistan leg-spinners Yasir Shah moved up two places to 22nd place after finishing with eight wickets in the match. Shadab Khan has re-entered the rankings at a career-best 69th position.

In the ICC World Test Championship points table, England has moved to 266 points, within 30 points of second-placed Australia.

India still leads the table with 360 points, New Zealand are fourth with 180 points and Pakistan fifth at 140.

Each series of the WTC is worth 120 points, distributed evenly over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.