KARACHI: Pakistan’s tour of Australia was disastrous to say the least but one of their players turned out to be a success story in the recently-concluded ODI series.
Babar Azam broke into the top 10 for the first time, gaining five spots to finish tenth. The young top-order batsman also had a stellar year in ODIs: he has struck 938 runs in 16 games since the start of 2016, including three consecutive hundreds against West Indies in October.
Babar became the joint-fastest batsman to 1000 ODI runs, reaching the landmark in 21 innings, equaling Sir Viv Richards’ record. He also became only the second Pakistan batsman to hit an ODI century against Australia in Australia, when he struck 100 in the fifth game in Adelaide.
Meanwhile, Australia batsman David Warner has leapt to the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings, a result of a sensational run in the format since the start of 2016. Warner has scored 1755 runs in 28 ODIs since early last year at an average of 65 and a strike-rate of 106.94, including nine hundreds and four fifties. Warner became the No. 1 ODI batsman for the first time in his career, overtaking AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli.
He capped the home ODI summer with a career-best 179 off just 128 balls in the fifth match in Adelaide, leading Australia to a 4-1 series win against Pakistan. Warner also won the Allan Border Medal for the second consecutive year and bagged the ODI Player of the Year title at the function, too. “It is a huge year for one-day cricket with the ICC Champions Trophy later this year and I am hoping I can take my good form into that tournament and help Australia lift the trophy for the third time,” Warner said.
In the ODI bowlers’ rankings, Australia quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood made significant jumps after the Pakistan series. Starc moved up to second spot, from fourth, after picking up 15 wickets in the home ODI summer. In seven matches, he returned an average of 19.06 and an economy rate of just 4.67. Hazlewood jumped five places to fifth spot. He took 13 wickets in seven ODIs at an average of 23.46 and an economy rate of 4.70.
After their 4-1 series loss against Australia, Pakistan continued to remain in danger of failing to directly qualify for the 2019 World Cup. They are currently in eighth place, two ranking points behind Bangladesh. Hosts England and the other top-seven sides as on September 30, 2017 will receive direct qualification for the event.