Babar Azam dethroned as top-ranked ODI batter ahead of Champions Trophy

DUBAI: Pakistan’s Babar Azam's reign as the top-ranked ODI batter in the world concluded Wednesday, with India’s prodigy Shubman Gill claiming top spot, on the latest ICC Men's Batting Rankings.

Azam, who rose to the top during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, is going through a rough patch across formats.

In his last three ODI innings, the 30-year-old managed meagre scores of 10, 23 and 29.

Gill, on the other hand, is enjoying a purple patch with the bat, the highlight of which was India’s recent home ODI series against England, during which he accumulated 259 runs in three innings at an average of 86.33 with the help of one century and two half-centuries.

As a result, Gill replaced Babar for the second time as the top-ranked ODI batter.

Babar Azam is now ranked second, 23 rating points behind Gill, while India’s longer formats captain Rohit Sharma remained in the third position.

Furthermore, Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan, who scored a match-winning century in the tri-nation ODI series against South Africa, climbed six places to 15th, while Salman Ali Agha jumped 24 places to 48th.

New Zealand trio of Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Devon Conway also made significant strides, claiming fifth, 35th and 41st spots.

On the bowling front, Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana replaced Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan as the No.1 ODI bowler on the back of his brilliant performance in the home series against Australia, the highlight of which was a four-wicket haul in the series opener.

Rashid, dropped to second, will be aiming to reclaim the coveted spot as he trails Theekshana by just 11 rating points.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s veteran Mohammad Nabi remained at the top of the all-rounder rankings, with Mitchell Santner moving up to the sixth spot.