Babar Azam dethrones Shubman Gill to reclaim top ODI spot

20 December, 2023

As per the ICC ranking, Babar has 824 points, 14 more than the Indian opener’s 810. Interestingly, the third and fourth spots of the list are also occupied by Indian batsmen, Virat Kohli, 775, and Rohit Sharma, 754, respectively.

Babar Azam climbed the top slot after more than a month of Gill’s rule and after the latter was rested for the ongoing Proteas series.

On the other hand, England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has ascended two spots to grab the top post from Afghanistan's Rashid Khan (now second) and India's Ravi Bishnoi (third) on the T20I rankings for bowlers.

Rashid is the second player from England to bag the No 1 ranking of T20I bowlers after off-spinner Graeme Swann held the top spot more than a decade ago.

After scoring a quick century in the final match of India's series against South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav extended his lead by 100 rating points in T20I. His nearest competitors are Mohammad Rizwan of Pakistan (2nd) and Aiden Markram (3rd) of South Africa.

After his performance against Pakistan lately, Australia's Usman Khawaja has moved up three places to fourth spot in the Test and within striking reach of the top-ranked Kane Williamson.

Khawaja’s teammate David Warner has also jumped nine spots to 27th and Mitchell Marsh improved 12 places to equal 68th after a good performance against Pakistan.

In the Test bowler’s rankings, Australia’s captain Pat Cummins is up one place to third, Nathan Lyon jumped three spots to fifth, Mitchell Starc rose two places to eighth and Josh Hazlewood has climbed two spots to 10th as India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continues to hold sway at the top.