LAHORE   -  Pakistani batter Babar Azam has experienced a dramatic setback, falling out of the top ten in the latest ICC Test Batting Rankings, as revealed in Wednesday’s update. This decline follows Pakistan’s crushing series loss to Bangladesh, which saw the visitors complete a historic clean sweep.Bangladesh’s emphatic victories—by six wickets in the second Test and a dominant 10-wicket triumph in the first—have left Pakistan reeling. Babar, who struggled throughout the series with just 64 runs in four innings, slipped three spots to 12th in the ICC Test Batting Rankings, marking a significant drop for the Pakistani captain. Mohammad Rizwan now holds the mantle as Pakistan’s highest-ranked batter, maintaining his position at 10th after amassing 294 runs during the series. Meanwhile, other Pakistani players saw varied movements in their rankings. Salman Ali Agha climbed nine places to 31st, and skipper Shan Masood improved by four spots to 63rd. However, vice-captain Saud Shakeel suffered a drop, falling seven places to 20th, and opener Abdullah Shafique slipped from 34th to 42nd. The decline wasn’t limited to batters. Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi also fell out of the top ten, sliding from 10th to 11th with 709 rating points in the ICC Test Bowling Rankings. Fellow pacer Naseem Shah dropped two spots to 35th, while mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed slipped three places to 49th.

 A silver lining came for Khurram Shahzad, the second-highest wicket-taker in the series, who made a notable leap of 35 spots to secure 60th place.