Babar replaces Kohli as ODI No 1

LAHORE: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has ended the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League matches as the number-one ranked ODI batsman in the world. The latest rankings were updated after the third ODI between Pakistan and South Africa.

Babar had moved ahead of India’s Virat Kohli after his 103 in the first match of the series. But he slipped to second, five points behind Kohli, after scoring 31 in the second match. However, after an innings of 94 in the series finale that earned him the player of the match award, Babar once again leapfrogged the India captain.

Babar had started the three-match ODI series 20 points behind Kohli and finished eight points ahead of the India batsman, earning 28 points in the series in which he aggregated 228 runs.

Babar is ranked sixth in Test and third in T20I rankings. Kohli is the only other batsman to feature inside the top-six across all formats.

Babar is the fourth Pakistan batsman after Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, and Mohammad Yousuf to reach the top of the ODI batting table.

Reacting to the news, Babar said: “I feel privileged and honoured to have joined the company of stalwarts like Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and Mohammad Yousuf.

“The ultimate ambition and goal is to lead the Test rankings. I remain confident I will be able to accomplish this target with the support of my team-mates and coaching staff,” he said.

“But at this stage, I will savour the moment as it has come almost 18 months after I was first appointed the white-ball captain and that too at the back of my performances that helped Pakistan become the first Asian side to win two ODI series in South Africa,” he added.

Meanwhile, opener Fakhar Zaman has returned to the top-10 following a stellar series against South Africa in which he won the player of the series award, while Shaheen Shah Afridi is just outside the top-10 in the latest rankings. Fakhar had scores of eight, 193 and 101, jumping from 19th to seventh — his career-best ranking.

Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf have slipped in the latest rankings. Hasan dropped six places to 54th, while Faheem is now 57th after sliding three places. However, Mohammad Nawaz has vaulted 29 places to 96th after his figures of three for 34 at Centurion.