Babar Azam solidifies top position as ICC announce latest ODI rankings

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has solidified his place at the summit among the ODI batters in the latest ICC Men’s Player Rankings after his side’s narrow win over the Netherlands. On the other hand, New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner and Devon Conway rose in the T20I rankings following their triumph against the Windies.

Babar Azam scored a typically fluent 74 in the first ODI against the hosts the Netherlands, with Pakistan surviving a scare to register a 16-run victory in the series opener. The mercurial batter broke the long-standing record of Hashim Amla, as he took his tally to 4516 runs in 88 innings, overtaking Amla’s 4473 runs, to record the most runs after 88 innings in ODI history.

The Pakistani skipper is the no. 1 ranked batter in ODI cricket with 891 rating points and has a considerable lead over the second-ranked player, his compatriot Imam-ul-Haq (800 points). He is also the top-ranked T20I player but his position has come under threat from India’s belligerent Suryakumar Yadav, after his outstanding recent form.

New Zealand’s Devon Conway is another big gainer in the latest rankings and has climbed up to seventh place after an impressive series against the Windies. His teammate Mitchell Santner has also got reason to celebrate as he has moved up to eighth place in the T20I rankings for bowlers.

Hazlewood, Mujeeb, and Mustafizur rise in the ODI rankings for bowlers

Talking about the bowlers, Josh Hazlewood is at the summit in the T20I rankings for bowlers and made a few strides towards attaining the same status in ODIs as he has jumped a place to the third spot in the ODI rankings for bowlers. The Australian pacer wasn’t the only mover as Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman also climbed up one place to fourth after Pakistani pace sensation Shaheen Afridi dropped two spots due to his absence in the series opener against the Netherlands.

But the biggest gainer in the bowling charts is Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who climbed up six places to the tenth position. The canny bowler looked at his very best in the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe, finishing as the joint leading wicket-taker in the series.