Rana makes giant stride in ICC ODI rankings

Bangladesh fast bowler Nahid Rana has made a remarkable leap of 23 places in the latest ICC ODI bowling rankings following his match-winning performance against Australia in the opening ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old pacer, whose pace and bounce troubled the Australian batting line-up, claimed four wickets for 41 runs in his full quota of 10 overs to help Bangladesh secure a historic ODI victory over Australia, their first against the visitors in 21 years. The performance earned Nahid significant recognition in the updated ICC rankings released on Wednesday. He climbed from 47th to 24th position, accumulating 535 rating points.

Nahid’s fiery spell continued his impressive rise in international cricket after drawing attention with strong performances against Pakistan and New Zealand in recent months.

Despite Nahid’s rapid ascent, Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz remains the country’s highest-ranked ODI bowler. Miraz retained his eighth position in the rankings with 618 rating points.

In the batting rankings, Bangladesh middle-order batter Towhid Hridoy slipped one place from 26th to 27th despite remaining the nation’s highest-ranked ODI batter.

The latest rankings also brought encouraging news for Bangladesh in the team standings. The Tigers held on to ninth place in the ICC ODI team rankings with 86 rating points, keeping themselves on course for direct qualification to the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Bangladesh need to remain among the top nine ODI teams to secure automatic qualification for the global tournament.