Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has replaced Indian opener Shubman Gill to regain the number one position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, announced on Wednesday. The change in the rankings occurred as a result of Gill’s absence from the ongoing One-Day International series against South Africa. Babar currently holds the top spot with an impressive 824 rating points, while Gill is a close second with 810 points.
While Gill dropped to the second spot, star batter Virat Kohli and India captain Rohit Sharma continued to hold the third and fourth positions in the latest ICC Rankings. Babar’s poor showing in the first Test against Australia, which Pakistan lost by 360 runs, saw him drop from fourth to fifth place (801 rating points). In the Perth Test, he contributed 21 runs in the first innings and 14 runs in the second innings. With 864 rating points, Kane Williamson maintains the top position in the Test batsmen rankings.
Notably, Pakistan have not played an ODI since November 11, when they faced England in their final World Cup league stage match. Babar is currently preparing for the Boxing Day Test against Australia, which is set to begin on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Not playing an ODI for nearly 40 days helped him in the rankings because his rating points did not drop, whereas Gill missed out when India was playing and thus lost rating points, eventually losing his number one spot to Babar. Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has risen to fourth place among bowlers, while Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has dropped to fifth for the same reason as Gill.
