Pakistan captain Babar Azam has ended Virat Kohli’s long reign at the top of ICC Men’s ODI Player rankings, becoming the fourth player after Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003) from Pakistan to attain the number one ranking.
The 26-year-olds heroic (82 runs in 94 deliveries) match-winning performance in the last match of the ICC Men’s Cricket Super League Series against South Africa in Centurion has helped him to gain 13 points to reach 865 points and now he is eight points ahead of Kohli. Kohli remained at the top for 1258 days since displacing AB de Villiers in October 2017.
Babar is currently third in T20 rankings and sixth in test rankings. Azam made a total of 228 runs in Pakistan’s famous series win against South Africa. Left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman is another Pakistani player who made it on the list gaining five slots to reach career-best seventh position after his knock of 101.
“This is another milestone in my career, which will now require even more hard work and absolute consistency with the bat in order for me to hold on to the ranking for an extended period of time,” Azam said.
Azam also said that he is privileged to achieve this feat, but his ultimate ambition is to become the best batsman in test cricket. He believes that becoming the best batsman in test cricket is the real testament to a batsman’s caliber. Kohli has endured a lean spell in ODI cricket by his high standards. He is scoring half-centuries, but century has been alluding him in the last 18 months. However, Kohli still remains the most consistent batsman in the world.
Men’s ODI Batting Rankings
- Babar Azam  PAK  865
- Virat Kohli             IND   857
- Rohit Sharma  IND    825
- Ross Taylor NZÂ Â Â Â Â 801 Â
- Aaron Finch            AUS   791 Â
- Jonny Bairstow       ENG  785  Â
- Fakhar Zaman PAK Â 778 Â Â
- Francois du Plessis SA Â Â Â Â Â 778
- David Warner AUS Â Â Â 773 Â Â
- Shai Hope WI Â Â Â Â Â Â 773 Â Â