Both Babar and Rizwan sat out Pakistan’s most recent T20I series against Bangladesh and will be keen to score freely against the Black Caps, who are coming off a narrow 2-1 series triumph over Sri Lanka at home.
While Suryakumar currently holds a commanding lead at the top of the T20I rankings for batters with 906 rating points, second-placed Rizwan (811) and third-placed Babar (755) could make gains while the India star is plying his trade in the IPL.
Ironically, it was Devon Conway’s absence from New Zealand’s series against Sri Lanka that led to Babar improving one place to third on the latest set of rankings, with the Kiwi batter also at the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings.
A host of New Zealand and Sri Lanka stars that did feature in the recently completed T20I series were rewarded for their performances with young spinner Maheesh Theekshana the biggest eye-catcher as the 22-year-old rose to a career-high rating and equal fifth-place on the rankings for bowlers.
