Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Wednesday toppled Indian captain Virat Kohli to become the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world, showed the latest ICC ODI rankings.Azam now sits on top of ICC’s ODI batsman rankings with 865 points and Kohli is number 2 with 857 points.With the new rankings, Babar ended Kohli’s five-year reign at the top of the ICC rankings. The Indian skipper was on top of the table since October 2017. By ending Kohli’s 1,258 day-supremacy, which adds up to over three years, Babar has emulated compatriots Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003) as the number one ODI batsman.
The 26-year-old’s player of the match effort of an 82-ball 94 in the last match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series against South Africa in Centurion has helped him gain 13 rating points to reach 865 points and he now leads the Indian captain by eight points.
For South Africa, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo has gained 11 slots to reach 83rd position after notching a half-century while captain Temba Bavuma has progressed from 88th to 86th place.
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.
