5 cricketers who can replace Babar Azam from top spot in T20Is

Pakistan has been ruling the ICC T20I rankings for over a year now. And it is their star batsman Babar Azam who owns the number one spot in the T20I ranking. Azam was hailed to be a future superstar since his under-19 days. With an astonishing average of 53, Babar has been piling runs since his debut in 2016 and has undoubtedly carved himself a reputation as one of the most dependable batsmen in all the formats.

He recently played the three-match T20I series against South Africa and turned out to be a thorn in the home team’s flesh, churning out big scores on a consistent basis. The youngster doesn’t play the extravagant strokes but depends on pure timing to keep the scoreboard moving. However, his top spot could be in danger due to the existence of a number of other batsmen, who are also match-winners on their day.

Here we look at 5 batsmen who could displace Babar Azam from the number one position.

Jason Roy

He is one of the several hard-hitting openers England have in their current limited overs setup. Roy shares the South African connection just like his Surrey teammate Kevin Pietersen, who was also born in South Africa. Standing 6 feet tall, Roy has an elegant straight batted stance but is capable of hitting the ball in all parts of the ground. The ‘see ball, hit ball’ strategy induced by Trevor Bayliss aptly harmonises with the style-play of Jason Roy.

He made his debut for Surrey at the age of 17 in 2008. In 2010, Roy became the first batsman from Surrey to score a T20 century as he smashed 101 off 57 deliveries against Kent. He had an impressive 2018 scoring 271 runs in mere 9 innings at a sizzling strike rate of 169. He was also England’s highest scorer in T20Is last year. Roy combined with either Alex Hales or Jos Buttler makes up one of the most destructive opening pairs in world cricket. Roy’s proclivity for smashing the white ball makes him a contender for the top spot in T20I rankings.