Breakdown of How Rizwan, Babar, Shaheen and Hasan Reached the Top 10 in 2021

Pakistan Cricket Team had a magnificent year in all formats. The team had the highest winning percentage in Test cricket and also registered the most wins in T20 cricket in a calendar year. However, the Men in Green did not play a lot of ODIs and their performances in their six ODI matches left a lot to be desired.

The Green Shirts were consistent in Test and T20I cricket throughout the year and got rid of the unpredictability tag that has been associated with them for a long time. Pakistan won 7 out of 9 Test matches and 20 out 29 T20I matches in the calendar year, their best performance over the past few years.

Pakistan’s star players, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, and Hasan Ali were the best performers for the team over the past few years and were at the heart of Pakistan’s brilliant performance in 2021. The players had numerous record-breaking performances in both Test and T20I cricket and formed the main core of the team that led Pakistan to their success.

Babar Azam became the first Pakistani player to be ranked number one in both ODI and T20I cricket and is currently the only batter in the world to be ranked in the top 10 in all three formats.

Mohammad Rizwan was exceptional in Test and T20I cricket and created the record for most runs in T20 cricket in one year. Shaheen Afridi achieved his career-best ranking in Test cricket and became the first Pakistani player since Mohammad Abbas in 2018 to be ranked within the top 3 in Test cricket.

Hasan Ali achieved a unique landmark as well as he had the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket in 2021 and also broke into the top 10 in the longest format.

While Babar and Shaheen were exceptional in all three formats of the game, Mohammad Rizwan could not do well in ODI cricket. Hasan Ali was exceptional in Test cricket but his performances in ODI cricket were not up to the mark which affected his ranking in the format. His T20I performances were inconsistent as well which had an adverse impact on his rankings.

Let’s have a look at the monthly breakdown of their rankings in all three formats:

The rankings stated are taken at the end of each month

Babar and Rizwan

Month	Babar Azam			Mohammad Rizwan
	Test	ODI	T20I	Test	ODI	T20I
Start of 2021	5	3	2	35	Outside top 100	Outside top 100
January	5	3	2	35	Outside top 100	Outside top 100
February	7	3	3	17	Outside top 100	43
March	6	2	3	17	Outside top 100	47
April	6	2	3	17	Outside top 100	10
May	6	1	3	18	Outside top 100	10
June	10	1	3	20	Outside top 100	11
July	10	1	2	20	Outside top 100	6
August	11	1	2	21	94	7
September	7	1	2	19	93	7
October	7	1	1	18	93	6
November	8	1	1	21	93	4
Present	9	1	3	18	93	4

Shaheen and Hasan

Month	Shaheen Afridi			Hasan Ali
	Test	ODI	T20I	Test	ODI	T20I
Start of 2021	33	15	16	Outside top 100	49	96
January	34	17	16	53	48	96
February	31	17	12	33	48	82
March	33	15	12	35	45	84
April	33	11	17	35	45	56
May	22	12	17	14	53	56
June	22	11	17	14	54	56
July	22	12	17	14	53	52
August	8	12	23	16	53	63
September	8	13	23	16	45	67
October	8	13	11	16	46	67
November	5	13	11	11	45	44
Present	3	13	11	10	45	58