Pakistan captain Babar Azam has now been at the top of T20I rankings for batters for the most number of days, after retaining his top billing in the recently released rankings. As a result he surpassed former India captain Virat Kohli‘s record of 1,013 days at the top. In the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday, Babar held his position at the top of the T20I rankings charts, ahead of compatriot Mohammad Rizwan. His form in limited overs cricket has been phenomenal and the Pakistan skipper is also at the top of the ODI rankings, ahead of second-placed Kohli and third-placed Imam-ul-Haq.
After the feat, Pakistan Criket Board lauded Babar Azam saying,”Making Pakistan proud! Babar Azam surpasses Virat Kohli as the No.1 batter in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings for the longest period of time. Shaheen Afridi rises to career-best No.3 ranking in ODIs”
Making Pakistan proud! ????????????
???? Babar Azam surpasses Virat Kohli as the No.1 batter in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings for the longest period of time ????✅
???? Shaheen Afridi rises to career-best No.3 ranking in ODIs ???? https://t.co/XgnUmSBbQD— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 29, 2022
Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) wrote in a statement: “The Pakistan skipper is currently rated as the No.1 batter in T20Is and ODIs and recently suggested he was keen to try and claim top billing in all three formats of the game.”
Babar’s teammate and last year’s ICC T20I player of the year Mohammad Rizwan is at the second spot in the rankings.
The only Indian in the top 10 is Ishan Kishan, who is placed at the 7th spot. Kishan broke into the top 10 after his good show in the home series against South Africa and had a decent outing in the first T20I against Ireland.
Promoted
Babar has been piling on the runs for his Pakistan side and leading them from the front across formats.
“Not many can argue that Babar Azam is probably the best player in the world at the moment, as far as batting in that top-order is concerned. He is unbelievable, Joe Root has got an argument for that. But I mean, Babar is, they talk about big four, at the moment he is the big one,” said Doull while commentating recently for Sky Sports.
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