baji live cricket - Babar Azam surpasses Virat Kohli to become ICC Top ODI batsman

Babar Azam, Pakistan's captain, has been named the number one ODI batsman in the latest ICC rankings. He overtook Indian captain Virat Kohli, who had been in the lead since October 2017. Due to his unwavering consistency, he remained at the top of the pile for an incredible 1258 days in the 50-over format. However, the 32-year-old had a poor ODI series against England at home.

In three One-Day Internationals, he scored just 129 runs without scoring a century. On the other hand, Babar Azam was in fine form in the one-day internationals against South Africa in the rainbow country. He scored 228 runs at a par of 76 in only three matches, and his brilliant batting allowed him to surpass the player with whom he is constantly compared.

In the most recent ODI rankings, Babar Azam has 865 rating points, while Virat Kohli has 857. The top two players are well ahead of the rest of the field, with Rohit Sharma scoring 825 points and Ross Taylor scoring 801 points.

In the meantime, Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has climbed to seventh place after a sensational series against South Africa. He fell short in the first game of the three-match series but bounced back with two centuries, including a 193-run knock, to finish the series with a total of 302 runs. He leapfrogged Faf du Plessis, David Warner, and Shai Hope into seventh place in the top ten rankings.

Trent Boult continues to be the best bowler globally, with 737 rating points, followed by Mujeeb ur Rahman, Matt Henry, and Jasprit Bumrah. After Kagiso Rabada's indifferent performances in two ODIs against Pakistan, Mehedi Hasan has climbed to fifth place.