Babar Azam dethrones Virat Kohli to become number one ODI batsman

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has become the number one batsman in One-day International (ODI) cricket after the latest International Cricket Council (ICC)’s player rankings update.

Babar has replaced Indian captain and star batsman Virat Kohli at the top of the table with 865 points. Kohli is at the second position with 857 points, followed by Rohit Sharma with 825 points in third spot.

The right-handed batsman was the second highest run-scorer in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against South Africa, with 228 runs in three innings and a highest score of 103.

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By ending Kohli’s 1,258 day-supremacy, Babar has emulated compatriots Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003) as the number one ODI batsman. In Tests, Babar has attained a best of fifth position and is currently ranked sixth while in T20Is he is third but has been number one in the past.

The Lahore-born, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2015, has scored 3808 runs in 78 ODI innings at an astonishing average of 56.83. He also has 13 hundreds, fastest male player to achieve this milestone after taking just 76 innings, and 17 fifties to his name.