Saeed Ajmal - Best ODI Bowler of the World
ICC Cricket Ratings Update after the Pakistan VS Srilanka Series 2011
Well, well, well.... What a Series it was... I am sure most of the Pakistanis must have loved it... A Series win against the No. 2 Best ODI team of the world, when Pakistan was sitting at No. 6 that too with a huge margin. Great work boys... I know most of the Pakistanis must be praising Shahid Afridi for his heroics, but one must not forget that it was due to a team effort plus Misbah's captaincy. Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Younus Khan, Sohail Tanveer, Aizaz Cheema, Umar Gul, all performed well. Misbah though wasn't inform until the final match of the series but his captaincy was flawless. So now the Good NEWS... Pakistan is now ranked No. 5 in the ICC Cricket ratings for ODI teams, trailing by just 4 rating points from 4th ranked Srilanka. Pakistan may have been enjoying the 4th spot if they hadn't lost the only match of the series. ICC ratings for the ODI teams are as follows
Reliance ICC ODI Ranking
| Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1 | Australia | 33 | 4291 | 130 |
| 2 | India | 39 | 4603 | 118 |
| 3 | South Africa | 22 | 2537 | 115 |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 33 | 3693 | 112 |
| 5 | Pakistan | 34 | 3664 | 108 |
| 6 | England | 35 | 3706 | 106 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 25 | 2174 | 87 |
| 8 | West Indies | 22 | 1711 | 78 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 29 | 1836 | 63 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 30 | 1402 | 47 |
| 11 | Ireland | 12 | 492 | 41 |
| 12 | Netherlands | 9 | 137 | 15 |
| 13 | Kenya | 7 | 0 | 0 |
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Pakistan's next major series is against England early next year, and if the always-in-doubt series against India goes as anticipated in March 2012, Pakistan will have a great chance to improve their ratings as India is current enjoying 2nd spot in the ICC cricket ratings for ODIs. Interestingly Pakistan has the most wins and best Win/loss ratio in 2011 amongst all the test playing Nations. Please see the list below.
The result percentage excludes no results and counts ties as half a win. *As of 24th November 2011
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| Saeed Ajmal Best ODI Bowler of the World |
Well as for the players, Saeed Ajmal is enjoying the prime form of his career. After the recent series against Sri-lanka he is now World's No 1 bowler in the ICC cricket Ratings for ODI bowlers, also Shahid Afridi and Muhammad Hafeez are now in Top 10 Bowlers of the world. Afridi is at No. 7 followed by very talented Muhammad Hafeez at No. 8. Which makes three of the Pakistani spinners in the Top 10 Bowlers. Now this is a phenomena which Pakistanis are not used to of.. I mean three bowlers in Top 10 is not an issue but three spin bowlers??? since when spin bowling has become Pakistan's strength, and this is not because Pakistan's faster bowlers didn't perform well, they threatened the Srilankan top order and gave Pakistan early breakthroughs but the spinners didn't give them chance to take anymore wickets at the end of the innings. Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Sohail Tanveer were all good but they took only 12 wickets collectively, add Abdul Razzaq's 2 and Junaid Khan's 1 and the total No. of wickets taken by seamers become 15. Where as Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez took, 13, 12 and 5 wickets respectively making it 30 wickets total, double the No of wickets 5 seamers got collectively. Below is the Reliance ICC ranking for ODI after the Pakistan Srilanka Series 2011
| Rat. | Name | Nat. | Career Best Rating |
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| 1 | 693 | Saeed Ajmal |  | 693 v Sri Lanka, 23/11/2011 |
| 2 | 691 | D.L. Vettori |  | 789 v England, 23/02/2008 |
| 3 | 689 | G.P. Swann |  | 735 v India, 14/10/2011 |
| 4 | 688 | M.G. Johnson |  | 729 v Bangladesh, 03/09/2008 |
| 5 | 678 | M. Morkel |  | 704 v India, 23/01/2011 |
| 6 | 660 | D.E. Bollinger | | 676 v England, 21/01/2011 |
| 7 | 655 | Shahid Afridi | | 667 v Sri Lanka, 20/11/2011 |
| 8 | 645 | Mohammad Hafeez | | 645 v Sri Lanka, 23/11/2011 |
| 9 | 644 | D.W. Steyn | | 668 v India, 12/03/2011 |
| 10 | 639 | Shakib Al Hasan |  | 717 v Zimbabwe, 05/11/2009 |
| 11 | 637 | S.L. Malinga |  | 679 v Bangladesh, 23/07/2007 |
I have included Lasith Malinga in the list at No. 11. He has taken most wickets in 2011 (48 wickets) followed by Shahid Afridi (40 wickets), whereas Saeed Ajmal is at No. 8 in this list with todal 30 wickets and Muhammad Hafeez at No. 11 with 26 wickets. Below is the list of Bowlers with most wickets in 2011. You can see Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul at No. 16 and17 with 23 wickets each.
Bowlers with Most wickets in 2011
| Player | Mat | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4 | 5 |
| SL Malinga (SL) | 24 | 23 | 192.1 | 12 | 924 | 48 | 6/38 | 19.25 | 4.80 | 24.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Shahid Afridi (Pak) | 24 | 23 | 206.3 | 9 | 838 | 40 | 5/16 | 20.95 | 4.05 | 30.9 | 2 | 3 |
| MG Johnson (Aus) | 22 | 22 | 184.1 | 10 | 817 | 39 | 6/31 | 20.94 | 4.43 | 28.3 | 2 | 1 |
| B Lee (Aus) | 19 | 19 | 156.1 | 10 | 717 | 33 | 4/15 | 21.72 | 4.59 | 28.3 | 3 | 0 |
| MM Patel (India) | 21 | 20 | 163.3 | 8 | 879 | 32 | 4/29 | 27.46 | 5.37 | 30.6 | 2 | 0 |
| TT Bresnan (Eng) | 24 | 24 | 210.2 | 10 | 1136 | 32 | 5/48 | 35.50 | 5.40 | 39.4 | 0 | 1 |
| GP Swann (Eng) | 21 | 21 | 192.0 | 11 | 853 | 31 | 3/18 | 27.51 | 4.44 | 37.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Saeed Ajmal (Pak) | 17 | 17 | 143.4 | 10 | 529 | 30 | 4/35 | 17.63 | 3.68 | 28.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Z Khan (India) | 14 | 14 | 127.5 | 6 | 620 | 30 | 3/20 | 20.66 | 4.85 | 25.5 | 0 | 0 |
| M Morkel (SA) | 14 | 14 | 102.5 | 4 | 459 | 26 | 4/22 | 17.65 | 4.46 | 23.7 | 2 | 0 |
| Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) | 29 | 26 | 204.0 | 9 | 762 | 26 | 2/16 | 29.30 | 3.73 | 47.0 | 0 | 0 |
| DW Steyn (SA) | 14 | 14 | 110.3 | 6 | 483 | 25 | 5/50 | 19.32 | 4.37 | 26.5 | 0 | 1 |
| TG Southee (NZ) | 13 | 13 | 111.5 | 9 | 529 | 25 | 5/33 | 21.16 | 4.73 | 26.8 | 0 | 1 |
| JM Anderson (Eng) | 18 | 18 | 156.2 | 8 | 873 | 25 | 4/18 | 34.92 | 5.58 | 37.5 | 1 | 0 |
| JDP Oram (NZ) | 12 | 12 | 99.0 | 6 | 455 | 23 | 4/39 | 19.78 | 4.59 | 25.8 | 1 | 0 |
| Wahab Riaz (Pak) | 13 | 12 | 91.4 | 2 | 480 | 23 | 5/46 | 20.86 | 5.23 | 23.9 | 0 | 1 |
| Umar Gul (Pak) | 20 | 19 | 142.2 | 11 | 675 | 23 | 3/30 | 29.34 | 4.74 | 37.1 | 0 | 0 |
These have been all the good news for bowlers, as for Batsmen, Pakistan has no batsmen in the Top 10 of the ICC ranking for ODI Batsmen, with 2 fifties in the series and a Man of the match in the final game Umar Akmal is at No. 11. The Next Pakistani Batsman to appear in the Top 100 list is Misbah-ul-Haq at No. 32 followed by Muhammad Hafeez and Younus Khan at No. 38 and 39 respectively, where as Shahid Afridi sits at No. 44. This is not a good news at all. At least 1 of our batsmen must be in the Top 10 and another 2 in the top 30. Batsmen of Younus Khan and Misbah's class must be in the Top 20 atleast if not Top 10. With almost the best bowling attack, if Pakistan can strengthen their batting as well, they can eye the No. 1 spot in the Reliance ICC ODI Rankings.
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| Rat. | Name | Nat. | Career Best Rating |
| 1 | 845 | H.M. Amla | | 890 v India, 23/01/2011 |
| 2 | 792 | A.B. de Villiers | | 823 v Pakistan, 29/10/2010 |
| 3 | 778 | M.S. Dhoni |  | 837 v Australia, 31/10/2009 |
| 3 | 778 | I.J.L. Trott | | 786 v India, 23/10/2011 |
| 5 | 759 | S.R. Watson | | 776 v Sri Lanka, 14/08/2011 |
| 5 | 759 | V. Kohli | | 804 v Bangladesh, 19/02/2011 |
| 7 | 752 | K.C. Sangakkara | | 758 v Australia, 16/08/2011 |
| 8 | 741 | M.E.K. Hussey | | 865 v New Zealand, 28/01/2007 |
| 9 | 717 | M.J. Clarke | | 751 v Sri Lanka, 22/02/2008 |
| 10 | 701 | J.H. Kallis | | 818 v West Indies, 04/02/2004 |
| 11 | 680 | Umar Akmal | | 688 v Sri Lanka, 14/11/2011 |
| 12 | 679 | G. Gambhir | | 723 v New Zealand, 04/12/2010 |
| 13 | 675 | T.M. Dilshan | | 766 v New Zealand, 29/03/2011 |
| 13 | 675 | R.T. Ponting | | 831 v New Zealand, 20/12/2007 |
| 15 | 669 | D.P.M.D. Jayawardena | | 742 v West Indies, 19/12/2001 |
| 16 | 668 | R.L. Taylor | | 698 v Australia, 10/02/2009 |
| 17 | 660 | S.R. Tendulkar | | 887 v Zimbabwe, 13/11/1998 |
| 18 | 656 | B.R.M. Taylor |  | 656 v New Zealand, 25/10/2011 |
| 19 | 653 | R.N. ten Doeschate | NED | 666 v Ireland, 18/03/2011 |
| 20 | 651 | V. Sehwag | | 787 v New Zealand, 11/01/2003 |
| 21 | 650 | J.P. Duminy | | 673 v Netherlands, 03/03/2011 |
| 22 | 649 | P.R. Stirling |  | 662 v Scotland, 12/07/2011 |
| 22 | 649 | Shakib Al Hasan | | 660 v Zimbabwe, 06/12/2010 |
| 24 | 643 | G.C. Smith | | 785 v India, 25/11/2005 |
| 25 | 631 | C.H. Gayle |  | 808 v Zimbabwe, 30/11/2003 |
| 26 | 624 | S. Raina | | 661 v Sri Lanka, 30/05/2010 |
| 27 | 623 | M.J. Guptill | | 626 v Zimbabwe, 22/10/2011 |
| 28 | 617 | E.J.G. Morgan | | 687 v Australia, 30/06/2010 |
| 28 | 617 | Yuvraj Singh | | 787 v West Indies, 26/06/2009 |
| 30 | 614 | L.M.P. Simmons | | 617 v Bangladesh, 15/10/2011 |
| 31 | 609 | S. Chanderpaul | | 777 v England, 22/03/2009 |
| 32 | 606 | Misbah-ul-Haq | | 624 v West Indies, 28/04/2011 |
| 33 | 605 | B.B. McCullum | | 666 v Pakistan, 09/11/2009 |
| 34 | 601 | Tamim Iqbal | | 632 v England, 28/02/2010 |
| 35 | 584 | R.R. Sarwan | | 784 v India, 23/05/2006 |
| 35 | 584 | A.N. Cook | | 587 v India, 14/10/2011 |
| 37 | 580 | A.D. Mathews | | 607 v Australia, 14/08/2011 |
| 38 | 576 | Mohammad Hafeez | | 583 v Sri Lanka, 18/11/2011 |
| 39 | 574 | Younus Khan | | 661 v West Indies, 16/11/2008 |
| 40 | 572 | J.D. Ryder | | 572 v Zimbabwe, 25/10/2011 |
| 41 | 571 | H.H. Gibbs | | 752 v Sri Lanka, 03/03/2003 |
| 42 | 567 | W.U. Tharanga | | 673 v New Zealand, 28/12/2006 |
| 43 | 565 | S.B. Styris | | 665 v England, 28/06/2008 |
| 44 | 564 | Shahid Afridi | | 668 v India, 02/10/1997 |
| 45 | 558 | C.L. White | | 652 v India, 20/10/2010 |
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Good news for the all rounders though. Shahid Afridi and Muhammad Hafeez are in the Top 5 Allrounders list for the ODIs. Surprisingly Muhammad Hafeez is a step ahead of Afridi with just three rating points difference. Here is the Top 10 Allrounders list for the ODIs.
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| ID | Rat. | Name | Nat. | Career Best Rating |
| 1 | 415 | Shakib Al Hasan | | 453 v Zimbabwe, 05/11/2009 |
| 2 | 405 | S.R. Watson | | 429 v Sri Lanka, 10/08/2011 |
| 3 | 372 | Mohammad Hafeez | | 372 v Sri Lanka, 23/11/2011 |
| 4 | 369 | Shahid Afridi | | 382 v Bangladesh, 21/06/2010 |
| 5 | 352 | J.H. Kallis | | 506 v West Indies, 09/05/2001 |
| 6 | 301 | R.N. ten Doeschate | NED | 322 v England, 22/02/2011 |
| 7 | 299 | Yuvraj Singh | | 358 v Bangladesh, 11/01/2010 |
| 8 | 298 | D.L. Vettori | | 355 v Australia, 06/03/2010 |
| 9 | 295 | J.D.P. Oram | | 383 v Bangladesh, 14/10/2008 |
| 10 | 270 | A.D. Mathews | | 279 v England, 09/07/2011 |
Pakistan in return conveyed its 'rage' to the United States over this cross-border NATO air strikes, as it ordered a full-scale review of its frosty alliance with the US and NATO. The United States, which depends on Pakistan as a vital life-line to supply 130,000 foreign troops fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, on Sunday scrambled to salvage the alliance, backing a full inquiry and expressing condolences. The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) in its emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday evening reiterated the resolve of the Pakistani people and Armed Forces to safeguard the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity at all costs.the DCC decided to close with immediate effect the NATO/ISAF logistics supply lines. The DCC also decided to ask the United States (US) to vacate the Shamsi Airbase within 15 days. 
