ICC T20I rankings shake-up: Mohammad Haris rockets 210 spots to No. 30 after century vs Bangladesh

ICC T20I rankings shake-up: Mohammad Haris rockets 210 spots to No. 30 after century vs Bangladesh Aug, 30 2025

A 22-year-old just leapt 210 places in a global ranking in one week. That’s not a typo. That’s what Mohammad Haris did after blasting a 46-ball 107* to close out Pakistan’s 3-0 sweep of Bangladesh at home, vaulting from obscurity to No. 30 in the ICC Men’s T20I batting list. It was the kind of innings that doesn’t just win a match—it moves markets, redraws selection debates, and, clearly, shakes up the rankings.

Haris finished the series as the top scorer with 167 runs at a blistering strike rate of 201.12. The run-log is simple and loud: 41, 31, 107*. He reached his fifty off 25 balls in the 10th over of the final game and then stepped on the gas, ending with eight fours and seven sixes. He was named Player of the Series, and his hundred now sits as Pakistan’s second-fastest in T20I history—one ball slower than Hasan Nawaz’s 44-ball ton versus New Zealand earlier this year. One more first: no Pakistan batter had ever scored a T20I century without opening. Until now.

Big rankings jumps in T20Is rarely happen after steady singles. They happen after one or two monster performances that spike the numbers the algorithm cares about—runs against international attacks, match impact, and the recency of those runs. Haris ticked every box in a three-match burst. A player with a small prior sample can move hundreds of places with one week like this. That’s exactly what happened here.

Pakistan didn’t just win 3-0. They changed the speed of the series. When Haris came in, the field pushed back. Bangladesh’s seamers shortened their lengths. Spinners began to miss the wide lines. Everything started to drift in the last ten overs, and Pakistan were happy to collect. On a high-scoring final night, Haris’s tempo broke the game apart. Bangladesh had no answer for the launch angle, the back-foot pulls, or the clean drives over cover once Pakistan crossed the halfway mark with wickets in hand.

This wasn’t a one-man surge. Hasan Nawaz, the man who owns Pakistan’s fastest T20I ton, kept swinging with purpose across the series. He stacked up 121 runs at a strike rate of 198.36 and jumped 57 places to a career-best joint 45th in the batting rankings. Captain Salman Ali Agha’s returns weren’t flashy, but they were useful, and the rankings rewarded that, bumping him up 42 spots to a tie for No. 75. From the other side, Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan fought through a tough series and still moved up 28 places to No. 53—proof that individual clarity can shine even in a 0-3 scoreline.

The bowling charts had a twist too. Abbas Afridi’s 2/26 in the high-voltage third T20I nudged him up 18 spots to a three-way tie at 19th in the ICC bowlers’ list, level with Anrich Nortje and Haris Rauf. That’s tidy company for a quick learning the trade at the highest pace of the shortest format. In a game that can punish a good over with two misfires, Afridi’s control at the back end was a difference-maker.

Haris’s 46-ball thunderbolt and why it mattered

Why did this hundred land with such force? First, the role. Most T20I centuries come from openers. They face the new ball and, crucially, the most deliveries. Middle-order batters usually enter between overs 7 and 12 and might only get 20–35 balls. That makes a three-figure score from the middle order extremely rare. For Pakistan, it had never happened. Haris changed that, and he did it with a tempo that left Bangladesh needing miracles in the final third of the match.

Second, the timing. Pakistan were closing out a home series and pushing for a clean sweep. The game context mattered. The third T20I was high scoring, which tempts batters to overhit early and collapse. Haris didn’t. He used the first 25 balls to plant the pace and then cashed in once he had the angles. The innings split—measured start, violent finish—is exactly how modern T20 run-gluts are engineered. Not slogging. Sequencing.

Third, the pattern across the week. Haris didn’t arrive cold for the finale. The 41 and 31 before the hundred weren’t headline scores, but they did two important things: they stabilized phases when Pakistan needed a bridge between the powerplay and death overs, and they kept his strike rate hovering over 150 without asking for another batter to compensate at the other end. Consistency at high speed is rare. He found it.

There’s also the track record beneath the surface. In 17 T20Is, Haris now has 370 runs at a strike rate of 152, with 33 fours and 21 sixes. For a young middle-order batter, those are serious base numbers. The shape of those runs matters too—he isn’t a powerplay-only player. He handles spin in the middle, and he’s comfortable flipping lengths late. Add the series context and you see why the rankings model gave him a fast-lane pass.

Hasan Nawaz’s week deserves its own paragraph. A 57-place leap to joint 45th isn’t trivial. It takes repeated impact across multiple games. His 121 runs at 198.36 kept Bangladesh under constant pressure because they couldn’t plan for a slow over. If they missed, he didn’t. Nawaz’s career ledger is already noisy: 227 runs off 118 balls for Pakistan, with 16 fours and 16 sixes. The balance tells you he isn’t just clearing the ropes; he’s also finding gaps early and forcing captains to move fields before they want to.

Haris and Nawaz together have history too. Earlier this year, they produced Pakistan’s highest-ever T20I powerplay score—74 off 5.5 overs against New Zealand—beating a nine-year-old national mark of 73 against England. That one burst showed a ceiling. This series showed they can hit that level more than once.

So how does a player jump 210 places? It’s not magic; it’s math. The ICC model weights recent games more heavily, factors in opposition quality and match context, and smooths for sample size. A player without many caps can swing wildly on the chart after one massive performance because the system is still “learning” their true level. When that performance comes in a series sweep against a full-member side, the effect multiplies. That’s what we’re seeing with Haris now.

From Bangladesh’s viewpoint, there are takeaways beyond the loss. Tanzid Hasan’s move to No. 53 shows their top order has a batter who can ride tempo even when the innings around him fades. The bigger issues were elsewhere: Pakistan kept extracting pace-friendly angles and then used slower cutters to jam Bangladesh’s hitters late. In short, Pakistan controlled the tempo changes better. Bangladesh will need a firmer plan for middle-overs rotation and a death-overs blueprint that doesn’t rely on perfect yorkers every time. Few sides can live on those alone in today’s T20.

Abbas Afridi’s climb to a tie for 19th among bowlers matters for Pakistan’s balance. His 2/26 on a night when most seamers leaked shows progress in the places that decide T20 results—the 14th through 19th overs. Bowlers who can survive those pockets allow captains to hold back a strike over for the end. That flexibility wins chases and defenses alike.

One more layer: captain Salman Ali Agha’s 42-place jump to joint 75th. It signals stability. In rankings terms, those mid-table moves often fly under the radar, but they tell you a side isn’t living by boom-or-bust alone. If the captain is adding runs or guiding chases, it lifts the floor. That’s as important as the ceiling-hitters standing at the top.

What the rankings shift says about Pakistan’s T20 blueprint

Pakistan’s T20 identity has been evolving in plain sight. Power at the top was never an issue historically. The question was always the middle—could they maintain speed between overs 7 and 15 without burning wickets too early? Haris and Nawaz answer that differently. They don’t just maintain. They accelerate. Pakistan now have multiple batters who can push a run rate past 10-per-over without waiting for the final five.

That changes selection. With more hitters in the middle, Pakistan can afford a floater, send a left-right pair to disrupt spin, or hold an enforcer for a specific match-up. The scorecards show a team willing to keep one anchor and four hitters around him, rather than two anchors dragging the pace. It’s the new standard globally, and Pakistan are leaning into it.

There’s also a tactical ripple that shows up in numbers like these: the more players who can hit from ball one, the easier it is to protect your bowlers. If your batting spends five overs at 9.5 per over, you don’t need a perfect 19th from your quick. You can survive a 12-run over late and still win by comfort. That’s what Pakistan built across this series.

The flip side for Bangladesh is clear. You can’t let Pakistan’s hitters settle mid-innings. Cutting singles and forcing them off their preferred lengths has to be the plan. If you leak singles and allow the odd boundary, you’re stuck defending 11s and 12s at the death with batters set on 40+. That’s a losing trade in modern T20 cricket.

Zooming out, the talent profile suits Pakistan’s calendar. Haris’s 370 runs at a 152 strike rate across 17 T20Is show he isn’t a cameo merchant. Nawaz’s 227 runs off 118 balls underline repeatable intent. Pair that with a bowling group featuring Afridi’s rise and the raw pace of Haris Rauf, and the outlines of a rounded T20 unit are visible. It’s not finished, but the direction is obvious: play fast, back boundary options, and manage risk through depth rather than caution.

For fans looking at the rankings and wondering what sticks, here’s the honest bit: T20 lists can move quickly. One big series can send a player soaring; one quiet fortnight can cost 10 places. What matters more is whether the method is repeatable. In this series, Pakistan’s batters didn’t depend on one surface or one bowling type. They scored off seam and spin, up front and late. That’s repeatable.

And the rarity factor of Haris’s feat matters beyond trivia. Middle-order tons change how opponents plan. Captains will keep a ring fielder deeper for longer. Spinners will push wider earlier. Seamers will try to go into the pitch and miss yorkers they don’t fully trust. Small adjustments like these carve out singles where there weren’t any and gift free hits when bowlers miss under pressure.

It’s worth pausing on the mental side too. A 210-place jump tells a young player: your game travels. It tells selectors: the upside is real. It tells bowlers around him: a par score just moved upwards by 10–15 runs. And it tells the dressing room: the kids can win you a series inside a week. All of that builds a team’s appetite to take the aggressive option when the toss leaves them choosing between 165 and 185.

What’s next? The schedule will throw up tougher attacks and trickier surfaces soon enough. Rankings will settle, then jiggle again. But Pakistan leave this series with more than points. They have a middle order that hits like an opening pair and a young quick climbing into elite company. That’s not a one-week story. That’s a template.

Key markers from the series and rankings update:

  • Mohammad Haris: 167 runs in three matches (41, 31, 107*), strike rate 201.12; up 210 places to No. 30.
  • Second-fastest Pakistan T20I hundred: 46 balls, one slower than Hasan Nawaz’s 44-ball ton vs New Zealand earlier this year.
  • First Pakistan T20I century by a non-opener.
  • Hasan Nawaz: 121 runs at 198.36; up 57 places to joint No. 45 (career-best).
  • Salman Ali Agha: up 42 places to joint No. 75.
  • Bangladesh’s Tanzid Hasan: up 28 places to No. 53.
  • Abbas Afridi: 2/26 in the third T20I; up 18 places to a tie for 19th with Anrich Nortje and Haris Rauf.
  • Career lens: Haris 370 runs in 17 T20Is (SR 152; 33 fours, 21 sixes). Nawaz 227 runs off 118 balls (16 fours, 16 sixes).
  • Partnership note: Haris–Nawaz delivered Pakistan’s highest T20I powerplay—74 off 5.5 overs vs New Zealand—eclipsing the previous mark of 73 vs England.

Pakistan’s week started with a sweep and ended with a statement. The rankings simply caught up to what the cricket already said.