ICC Rankings: Babar Azam surpasses Virat Kohli to become No.1 ODI batsman

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been crowned as the No. 1 ODI batsman in the latest ICC rankings, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

Azam went past the Indian captain Virat Kohli who held the Numero Uno position since October 2017. Kohi was at the top of the pile for astonishing 1258 days in the 50-over format thanks to his sheer consistency. However, the 32-year-old didn’t have a great ODI series at home against England.

Kohli scored only 129 runs in three ODIs while not scoring a single century. On the other hand, Babar struck form in the ODIs against South Africa in the rainbow nation. He amassed 228 runs in only three matches at an average of 76 and his performance helped him go past the player whom he is always compared with.

Currently, Babar boasts of 865 rating points while Virat Kohli has 857 points to his name in the latest rankings in the ODI format. The top two are a fair way ahead of the next lot with Rohit Sharma having 825 points and Ross Taylor is in the fourth spot with 801 points.

Fakhar Zaman climbs to 7th place

Meanwhile, Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has also climbed to seventh place thanks to a stunning series against South Africa. He failed in the opening game of the three-match series but returned with two centuries including a 193-run knock to end with a tally of 302 runs. He went past Faf du Plessis, David Warner and Shai Hope to claim the seventh spot.

As far as the bowlers are concerned, Trent Boult continues to be at the top with 737 ratings points while Mujeeb ur Rahman, Matt Henry and Jasprit Bumrah follow him. Mehedi Hasan has climbed to the fifth place after indifferent outings for Kagiso Rabada in two ODIs which he played against Pakistan.

Shakib Al Hasan is at the top in the all-rounders’ category and has a whopping 113-point lead over the second-placed Ben Stokes. Mohammad Nabi, Chris Woakes and Rashid Khan are the other players in the top five in this aspect.