Abrar Ahmed is No. 1 in the ICC T20I bowling rankings, one point ahead of Rashid Khan

Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed is now the world's No. 1 T20I bowler. The ICC's rankings update on Wednesday 23 September put him on 736 rating points, one point clear of Afghanistan's Rashid Khan, who had held the top spot for six months.

The numbers

• Rating: 736 points, No. 1 in the ICC men's T20I bowling table
• Gap to No. 2: 1 point (Rashid Khan, Afghanistan)
• ODI ranking: No. 2, 39 points behind Rashid
• T20Is in 2026: 9 matches, 15 wickets, including 6 in the 3-0 series win over Australia in January and February
• Career: 10 Tests, 19 ODIs, 38 T20Is and 133 international wickets

Rashid slipped behind Abrar after an underwhelming outing against India.

Fifth Pakistani to reach the top

Only four Pakistan bowlers had been ranked No. 1 in T20Is before him: Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Imad Wasim. Abrar, a 28-year-old right-arm mystery spinner born in Karachi, is the fifth.

He said he had "worked hard on consistency", a telling answer from a bowler whose early career was built on variations.

Why the lead is fragile

One rating point is the smallest possible margin. The table is updated every week and weights recent matches heavily, so Rashid can take the spot back with one good spell. Afghanistan are playing the Asian Games in Japan this week: they opened against Japan at 5am Pakistan time today.

Pakistan's next men's T20 fixture is the Asian Games quarter-final on Monday 28 September at 5am Pakistan time. Fixtures, results and where to watch are on our Asian Games cricket schedule in Pakistan time.

What it means for Pakistan

A No. 1 ranked spinner gives the selectors a fixed point in the middle overs heading into the next white-ball season, alongside all-rounders like Shadab Khan. For more on Pakistan's other leading spinner, read our Shadab Khan profile, stats and latest scores.