By Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe Test captain Sean William jumped a massive 43 places up the ICC batting rankings to position 24 following a man of the series show in the recent tour of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) for a historic clash with Afghanistan.
It was the first time that Zimbabwe was playing Afghanistan in the longer version of the game, a series that finished one — all after the Asians shrugged off a sluggish start for a sensational win in the second match.
Williams was a lone ranger with the bat as his teammates struggled for runs in both matches.
The Zimbabwe skipper finished with two centuries including an unbeaten 151 in the second Test to scoop the man of the series gong. He feels that he has matured because of the added responsibilities as team captain.
“As I have got older, and taken on more responsibility as captain and a senior player, I started to understand more about my own game and leadership skills, and how important my performance is through tough times,” Williams told journalists in UAE recently.
“As a leader, you can’t show weakness, you need to be strong. That’s a big thing for me.
“I’ve had it tough, I’ve had it rough and I’ve just kept on pushing. I feel like I didn’t come this far, to just go this far.”
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He overtook Brendan Taylor, who did not travel to the UAE as the country’s top ranked batsman and the former captain is now in 29th place.
Veteran Sikandar Raza (46) and Craig Ervine (47) are also in the top 50 while Regis Chakabva (96) is the only other Zimbabwe in the top 100.
Donald Tiripano’s knock of 95 in the second innings has helped him progress 22 places to 123rd in the charts.
While Zimbabwe has no Test bowler in the top 50, the country has seven bowlers in the top 100. Kyle Jarvis is the highest ranked Zimbabwean on 54 while Sikandar Raza is three places down the order and Victor Nyauchi coming in 71st place.
Blessing Muzarabani (80), Tiripano (85), Williams (87) and Ryan Burl (96) complete the list.
