Dubai – In the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, former Pakistan captain and legendary batsman Babar Azam dethroned India’s batting maestri Shubman Gill on Wednesday, taking back the top rank.
Only three ODIs have been played by Gill since November, when he broke Babar Azam’s more than two-year dominance as the top-ranked ODI batter. He fell for just four in his lone ODI appearance, which occurred during the ICC World Cup 2023 final against Australia.
Gill lost significant rating points as a result of being rested during India’s three-match away ODI series against South Africa. Babar Azam, the star batsman for Pakistan, overtook him in the rankings as a result, scoring higher rating points (824), 14 more than Shubman Gill. Virat Kohli, a fellow countryman who currently sits third in the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings with 775 rating points, is not far behind Gill. In the T20Is, leg-spinner Adil Rashid of England moved up two spots to take Rashid Khan of Afghanistan’s top spot, while Ravis Bishnoi of India dropped to third. After renowned off-spinner Graeme Swann held the top rank more than ten years ago, Rashid is only the second Englishman to hold the position for T20I bowlers.
Following his explosive century in the third Twenty20 International match against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav increased his lead at the top to a total of 100 rating points. His closest competitors were Aiden Markram of South Africa (ranked third) and Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan (ranked second). Major changes were also observed in the ICC Test Rankings after Australia defeated Pakistan by a commanding 260 runs in the Perth Test. Usman Khawaja, an Australian opener, leapt three spots to take fourth place, passed Babar Azam at third, and got close to top-ranked Kiwi Kane Williamson. Following strong performances against Pakistan, his teammates David Warner (up nine spots to 27th) and Mitchell Marsh (up 12 places to equal 68th) also gain some ground.
Pat Cummins (up one spot to third), Nathan Lyon (up three spots to fifth), Mitchell Starc (up two places to eighth), and Josh Hazlewood (up two spots to 10th) all gained recognition inside the Top 10, but India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin remains dominant at the top. Australian bowlers also received recognition for their outstanding performances against Pakistan in the first Test.
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