West Indies spinner Jomel Warrican has achieved a career-best position in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings following his maiden 10-wicket haul, even as the Caribbean side succumbed to a 127-run loss against Pakistan in the first Test of their ICC World Test Championship series in Multan.
Warrican, who had a previous best ranking of 50th, moved up 12 slots to 41st after claiming 3 for 69 and then a career-best 7 for 32 in a standout performance that offered a silver lining in an otherwise challenging match for the West Indies.
He is now the fifth highest-ranked Caribbean bowler on the chart behind Jayden Seales (12th) and Kemar Roach (19th), who both held firm, as well as Alzarri Joseph (33rd) and Jason Holder (34th), who slipped three and two spots, respectively.
On the batting chart, Alick Athanaze jumped 14 spots to 60, following his standout 55 in the second innings and, by extension, the match for the West Indies. There are no longer any West Indies batsman in the top 50 as captain Kraigg Brathwaite, expectedly slipped two spots to 52.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s spinners also made significant gains after dominating the match, taking all 20 West Indies wickets. Left-arm spinner Noman Ali equaled his career-best ninth position following figures of 5 for 39 and 1 for 42. Off-spinner Sajid Khan rose five places to a career-best 23rd, courtesy of his match-winning returns of 4 for 65 and 5 for 50.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed also benefited from his five-wicket match haul, climbing six spots to 52nd, just six places shy of his career-best 46th position.
On the batting front, Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel re-entered the top 10 after his crucial 84 in the first innings propelled him three spots to eighth. Captain Shan Masood moved up three places to 42nd following his second-innings half-century, while wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan climbed two places to 17th after his first-innings knock of 71.
The second and final Test of the series will provide both teams with opportunities to further enhance their rankings, with Warrican and the West Indies, in particular, aiming to bounce back to level the series.