Babar Azam is all set to dethrone Virat Kohli and become the number one ranked batsmen in the One Day Internationals for the first time in his career. Pakistan’s skipper brilliant 94 in the third and final ODI against South Africa will propel him above Virat Kohli when the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings are announced next week.
Before yesterday’s game, Babar Azam was on 852 ranking points, just five ranking points behind Virat Kohli.
At the start of the series against South Africa, Azam was more than 30 points behind Kohli in the ICC ODI rankings but with a century in the 1st ODI and 31 runs knock in the 2nd ODI he closed the gap to just five points.
The 26-year-old will be the first Pakistani batsmen to achieve this feat in the format after Muhammad Yousuf, who topped the ranking charts way back in 2003. Babar has featured in 78 ODI’s for Pakistan and thus far amassed 3,808 runs at an amazing average of 56.83.
Babar is currently the highest ranked batsman in the world with 3rd in T20Is and 6th in Tests.