Babar Azam moves to the 2nd spot in ICC ODI ranking for batsmen
LAHORE:-Pakistan’s top order batsman, Babar Azam has moved to the second spot in the ICC ODI ranking for the batsmen, just behind India’s captain, Virat Kohli.
Babar got the major jump in ODI ranking due to Joe Root’s failure in the five-match series against Australia, where he could only manage 104 runs with only one half-century to his name, which pushed him to the sixth position.
On the other hand, David Warner, who is suspended by the Cricket Australia for 12 months in the ball-tampering saga, has also lost his domination in the ranking table.
Babar Azam has not played an ODI since January this year, but his consistent run with the bat for Pakistan has given him the spot in ICC ODI ranking for batsmen.
The man, who is also the top-ranked T20I batsman, has scored 1,789 runs in 41 50-over games at an average of 51.11 with the courtesy of seven centuries.
England’s batsmen Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler had a wonderful outing against Australia in the five-match ODI series. Bairstow and Buttler benefitted from their form and got the 11th and 16th position in the ranking.
Whereas, Pakistan’s right-arm pacer Hasan Ali has got the third position in the ODI ranking for bowlers, behind India’s Jasprit Bumrah (1st) and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (2nd).
After conceding a white-wash against England, Australia has slipped down to the sixth position in the ODI ranking. Pakistan have got the fifth rank, leading Kangaroos by just one point.