Duffy Dethrones Hosein To Grab Top Spot In T20I Bowling

KEY POINTS

Shaheen slides out of top 30 ICC T20I ranking
Babar Azam slips to 9th position, Haris Rauf falling five places to joint-20^th position

ISLAMABAD: New Zealand’s speedster Jacob Duffy has risen to the top of the heap in T20I bowling, claiming the No. 1 spot in the rankings with a stellar performance as 2025 commences.

Pakistani pacer drops out of the ICC T20I top 30 rankings.

Duffy, who had a rather inconsistent T20I journey until his remarkable inclusion in last year’s Sri Lanka series, has since transformed into a bowling sensation. In that series, he bagged an impressive eight wickets in just three matches and continued his stellar performance with a phenomenal haul of 13 wickets in the recent five-match T20I series against Pakistan.

With this surge in form, he has dethroned Akeal Hosein of the West Indies to claim the coveted top spot in the bowling rankings, marking his first time reaching the No. 1 ranking in any format. Duffy is the first New Zealand fast bowler to achieve this ranking since Ish Sodhi, a spinner, did so in 2018.

His T20I record stands at an impressive 32 wickets from 23 matches, boasting an average of 16.09 and an economy rate just shy of seven.

In contrast, Pakistan’s pace ace Haris Rauf falls five places to joint-20^th position. However, he made a significant leap in the ODI rankings, climbing nine spots from 25^th to 16^th.

Seifert’s Top-10 leap

Duffy’s fellow Kiwi, Tim Seifert, soared to new heights, delivering a brilliant performance in the T20Is against Pakistan, where he notched an impressive career-best score of 97* during a record-setting chase.

With this remarkable feat, Seifert has made a giant leap into the top 10 rankings, climbing five places and nudging Babar Azam down to the ninth spot.