Babar Azam, the star batsman from Pakistan, has regained his position at the top of the ICC ODI batsmen rankings, displacing Shubman Gill, who now holds the second position. This change in rankings occurred due to Gill’s absence from the ongoing ODI series against South Africa. Babar currently leads the rankings with an impressive 824 rating points, while Gill closely trails him at second place with 810 points.
In the Test rankings, opener Usman Khawaja has made significant progress, moving up three places to fourth with 808 rating points. He is now within striking distance of the top-ranked Test batsman, Kane Williamson from New Zealand, who holds 864 rating points. Additionally, David Warner has made significant gains, climbing nine spots to 27th, and Mitchell Marsh has improved by 12 places to share the 68th position, both based on their good performances against Pakistan.
However, Babar Azam’s performance in the first Test against Australia, which Pakistan lost by 360 runs, caused him to drop one place from fourth to fifth position with 801 rating points. His contributions in the Perth Test were limited to scoring 21 runs in the first innings and 14 runs in the second innings.
In the Test bowlers’ rankings, Australian quartet Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood have all made progress within the top 10, with Cummins moving up to third place, Lyon to fifth, Starc to eighth, and Hazlewood to tenth. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi has dropped seven places to 12th position.
In T20I cricket, Adil Rashid’s consistent performances in the Caribbean have earned him a two-place jump to claim the top spot in the bowlers’ rankings, surpassing Rashid Khan from Afghanistan and Ravi Bishnoi from India. This change comes as England and West Indies players make significant movements in the rankings, less than six months before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Furthermore, Suryakumar Yadav has extended his lead at the top of the T20I batters’ rankings by 100 rating points after his impressive century in the final game of India’s series against South Africa. Mohammad Rizwan from Pakistan and Aiden Markram from South Africa are currently his closest competitors, holding the second and third positions, respectively.
