Basit Ali labels ICC as Babar Azam’s enemy

Former cricketer Basit Ali has labeled International Cricket Council (ICC) as enemy of Pakistan white-ball skipper Babar Azam after the latter retained the top spot in latest ODI batters ranking.

Azam, 29, continued to lead the batting chart with 824 rating points followed by Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who has 765 rating points. Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli are ranked third and fourth with 763 and 746 rating points respectively.

The former cricketer expressed concern over the latest ODI batters ranking, saying that Babar will be happy with his top spot and the ICC does not want him to perform.

Basit also regretted that the performing batters like Australia’s Travis Head and New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra are not in the top ten.

Gill, who found himself grappling with a poor form, also came under fire. “Who gives these rankings? On what basis are Babar Azam and Shubman Gill there,” he said, severely criticising the cricketing body that the ICC doesn't want the Pakistani cricketer to perform.

He pointed out the performances in the ODI World Cup 2023, saying: "We saw the likes of Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Travis Head, and Virat Kohli at the World Cup. They scored three to four hundreds in the tournament, but they are not ranked higher” Ali added.

“For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman scored a century each. Babar Azam did not score a single hundred. He scored his last century against Nepal in Asia Cup. What kind of ranking do they [ICC] give?

"The people at ICC are Babar Azam's enemies. If you asked Babar who is the current number one, he would also pick Travis Head or Virat Kohli. Even he wouldn't say that he is the number one," he concluded.