ICC Rankings: Pakistan's Babar Azam overtakes Virat Kohli to become No. 1 in ODIs
Pakistan captain Babar Azam
ICC Rankings: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam overtook Virat Kohli to become the new No. 1 batsman in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs), according to the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings on Wednesday.
Babar brought an end to Kohli's 1,258-day stay at the top position as he became only the fourth batsman from Pakistan to claim the pole position in the ODIs. The other three were Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003).
Courtesy of his 82-ball 94 in the last ODI between Pakistan and South Africa in Centurion helped him gain 13 points to reach 865 points and now he leads his Indian counterpart by eight points.
In Tests, Babar's best rank has been No. 5 but he is currently ranked sixth in the longest format. The former World No. 1 Twenty20 International (T20I) batter holds the No. 3 slot in the shortest format at present. Earlier this year, Kohli fell to No. 5 in the Test rankings, following a poor home series against England. The current World No. 1 in the longest format is New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
Meanwhile, Babar's compatriot Fakhar Zaman has also moved up the ODI batting charts, gaining five slots to reach a career-best No. 7 position after his knock of 101, while left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi (up four places to a career-best 11th place) and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz (up 29 places to 96th) have also progressed, thanks to their three-wicket hauls in the match.
In the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings, Mohammad Rizwan's unbeaten 74 in the first match of their series against South Africa has helped him jump 24 places to 23rd position while Nawaz (up 36 places to 28), Hasan Ali (up 22 places to 62nd) and Usman Qadir (up 24 places to 68th) have moved up the bowlers' list.
The T20I rankings update, carried out after the first two matches of the ongoing four-match series, also saw South Africa captain Heinrich Klaasen move up 38 places to 53rd position after scores of 56 and 36 not out while Aiden Markram has re-entered the rankings in 65th position after his two half-centuries. Beuran Hendricks has progressed 44 places to 46th after a three-wicket haul in the first match.
(Inputs from ICC)