Pakistan's Sadia Iqbal creates history with brief stay as ICC no. 1 bowler

Sadia Iqbal created history as she became the first Pakistani to rank number one in the ICC Women’s T20 bowlers’ rankings. However, her stay was brief as England's Sophie Ecclestone bounced back to take the top spot before the next week’s rankings were released. 

Sadia’s stay at the top of the charts was only for two days as she took 3/17 against Sri Lanka and equalled Ecclestone at 757 rating points. But, she went past the English spinner, with the latter being unable to pick a wicket in England’s opening match against Bangladesh. 

However, things changed again on Monday, just ahead of the rankings being updated ahead of Tuesday, October 8th. Ecclestone grabbed two for 15 against South Africa to win the Player of the Match award. She thereby regained the top spot

The 29-year-old Pakistani spinner equalled Sana Mir as the other Pakistani to achieve the number one ranking. Mir, a former Pakistan captain, was at the top of the ODI bowling rankings between 2018 and 2019. 

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