Bangladesh's three stars suffer dramatic decline in ICC rankings

Bangladesh's recent break from international T20 cricket has affected its players' rankings, with Liton Das, Parvez Hossain Emon and Towhid Hridoy all slipping in the ICC's latest T20 rankings, while two young South African batters have made big jumps on the back of outstanding performances in a tri-nation series.

Bangladesh last played a T20 match in July, and the team has not taken the field in this format since. Liton Das has suffered the biggest decline in the rankings during that period, dropping two places to 65th with a rating of 496 points.

Liton has not played for Bangladesh in T20s since May. He also failed to score in three innings during the Test series against Australia, meaning his recent form with the bat has not been going well.

Parvez Hossain Emon has also dropped three places and is now ranked 56th with 514 rating points. Towhid Hridoy has slipped one place to 33rd, with 577 rating points. Hridoy had led Bangladesh in the three-match T20 series against Zimbabwe in July, scoring 44 runs across the three matches, while Emon scored 30 runs in that series.

In contrast to the decline of Bangladeshi cricketers, several young South Africans have seen big rises in the rankings, rewarded for their strong performances in the tri-nation series involving Namibia and Zimbabwe.

South Africa's Connor Esterhuizen produced the biggest surprise, climbing 65 places to reach 25th. The 25-year-old batter scored 126 runs in five innings during the series, showcasing his ability with an 88-run innings against Namibia in the final group-stage match.

Luan-dre Pretorius moved up by an even bigger margin. The South African batter, who scored 226 runs in four innings, jumped 61 places to reach a joint-43rd position. On September 4, he played a blistering innings of 101 runs off just 53 balls against Namibia, an innings that included five fours and eight sixes, earning him the player-of-the-match award.

South Africa won the tri-nation series title by beating Zimbabwe by 48 runs in the final. Alongside the team's success, the Proteas cricketers strengthened their individual positions in the rankings through their performances in the series.

Namibia's captain Gerhard Erasmus has also made notable progress in the rankings. He has climbed 16 places to 55th among batters. Among all-rounders, he improved four places to reach eighth, achieving a career-best position, having scored 149 runs and taken five wickets in the series.

Zimbabwe's Brad Evans moved up four places to a joint-22nd position. He was among the most successful bowlers in the series, taking 10 wickets. His teammate Sikandar Raza has moved up to 27th. South Africa's Corbin Bosch (Koena Maphaka) climbed 16 places, and Bjorn Fortuin moved up 37 places.

Meanwhile, there has been no major change at the top of the T20 batters' rankings. India's Ishan Kishan remains on top with 910 rating points, followed by Sahibzada Farhan and Abhishek Sharma in the next two positions. In the top 10, only Phil Salt and Dewald Brevis have swapped positions, with Salt moving up to fourth and Brevis dropping to fifth.

There has also been no change in the bowlers' top 10. Afghanistan's Rashid Khan remains on top with 753 rating points. However, Nasum Ahmed brought good news for Bangladesh, moving up one place to 11th with 646 points.