Babar Azam loses World No1 ODI batsman title

6 months ago 46

DUBAI – Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s reign as the No.1 ODI batter in the world came to an end on Wednesday, with India young gun Shubman Gill claiming top spot in the latest ICC Men’s Batting Rankings.

Gill rises to the top to displace Babar on the back of his solid start to India’s campaign at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and in the process becomes just the fourth player from his country behind Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to hold the No.1 ODI batter ranking.

The right-hander has contributed scores of 92 against Sri Lanka and 23 against South Africa over the last week, and amassed a total of 219 runs from six innings at the tournament.

Babar has totalled 282 runs from eight knocks at the World Cup and drops six rating points below Gill into second place as his reign of more than two years as the No.1 ranked ODI batter in the world comes to an end.

In the bowling rankings, Siraj improved two spots to regain his crown as the No.1 ranked ODI bowler, ending Shaheen Shah Afridi’s short stint as top bowler.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan remains the No.1 ranked all-rounder despite an early exit at the World Cup due to injury, with Australia veteran Glenn Maxwell improving two spots to sixth after his match-winning heroics against Afghanistan in Mumbai on Tuesday.