Former Pakistan cricketer labels ICC as Babar Azam's enemy: Here's why

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has expressed serious concerns about the placement of Babar Azam and Shubman Gill in the latest ICC Men's ODI Rankings for Batters. The current rankings see Pakistan's captain, Babar Azam, holding the top spot with 824 rating points. 

He is followed by India's captain, Rohit Sharma, who occupies the second position with 765 rating points. Fellow Indian players Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli follow closely at the third and fourth spots with 763 and 746 rating points, respectively.

In a recent video shared on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali voiced his skepticism regarding the rankings, suggesting that the ICC may have ulterior motives. 

He cheekily insinuated that the governing body might be keeping Babar Azam at the No.1 position to hinder his further improvement. Additionally, Ali questioned the legitimacy of Shubman Gill's ranking.

"When I saw the ICC ranking (ODI batters), Babar Azam was at the top, number two was Rohit Sharma, number three was Shubman Gill, and then there was Virat Kohli at number four. I did not find it necessary to read the remaining names because I couldn't see Travis Head and Rachin Ravindra. I think the ICC wants that Babar doesn't perform. He would be happy with being the number one-ranked batter in ODIs. Who gives these rankings? On what basis are Babar Azam and Shubman Gill there?" Basit questioned.

Basit Ali did not hold back in his criticism of the ICC, particularly highlighting Babar Azam's recent performances. He pointed out that Babar's last ODI appearance was during the previous year's World Cup, where he failed to score a century. 

Instead, he praised the performances of other batters like Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Travis Head, and Virat Kohli, who delivered outstanding performances during the tournament. 

"Babar's last ODI was at the last year's World Cup. We saw the likes of Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Travis Head, and Virat Kohli at the World Cup. They scored three-four hundreds in the tournament. For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman scored a century each. Babar Azam did not score a single hundred. His last hundred came against Nepal in the Asia Cup. What kind of ranking do they give?" he argued.

Ali went on to make a startling claim, suggesting that the ICC might be acting as Babar Azam's adversary. He even speculated that Babar himself would not consider himself the world's best ODI batsman at present.

"The people at ICC are Babar Azam's enemies. If you asked Babar who is the current number one, he would also pick Travis Head or Virat Kohli. Even he wouldn't say that he is the number one," he concluded.