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ICC Rankings: Unstoppable Babar Azam overtakes Steve Smith, Record gain for Abdullah Shafique

CricketICC Rankings: Unstoppable Babar Azam overtakes Steve Smith, Record gain for Abdullah Shafique

Srinagar: Pakistan Cricket team skipper Babar Azam has jumped past Steve Smith in the ICC Test Rankings to No.3 spot while as Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique has jumped to 16th place with record points gain.

Babar Azam jumped to his career-best Test ranking, overtaking Australia’s Steve Smith to reach the top three in all three formats.

Babar, who is the top-ranked batter in T20 and One-day Internationals, scored 119 and 55 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle last week, which earned him enough rating points to pass Steve Smith on 848.

Babar is now just 11 points behind Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne (885) in second, with former England captain Joe Root (923) still out in front.

Babar last month had said that he would love to be No.1 in Test Rankings as well after being current No.1 in ODI and T20.

“As a player it’s a dream to become the No.1 in all formats and, for that, you have to focus and put in hard work,” Babar had said.

“If you are to become No.1 in all three, you have to keep yourself fit and on track. There is back-to-back cricket and the gap is less. For that, you need to be extra fit.”

Australian skipper Pat Cummins remains the top-ranked Test bowler with 891 points, with Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi gaining one spot to move into the top three.

Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, who started his Test career with a 12-wicket haul against Australia in the second Test, has moved up 11 places to 44th position with 481 rating points – the fourth highest by any bowler after two Tests.

Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique who was declared Player of the Match for his second innings knock of 160 against Sri Lanka and has amassed 720 runs in his first six Tests, advanced 23 slots to reach 16th position with a Pakistan record of 671 rating points.

Only two batters have ever had more rating points than Abdullah’s 671 after six Tests – Sunil Gavaskar (692) and Don Bradman (687).

Australian opener Usman Khawaja, moved up one spot in the batting rankings to No.7 above Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne.

Dinesh Chandimal, who has also enjoyed success against Australia recently, moved up 11 slots to reach 18th position in the Test batter rankings after scores of 76 and 94 not out in his side’s loss to Pakistan.

Men’s Test batting rankings

Joe Root (England) – 923 points

Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) – 885

Babar Azam (Pakistan) – 874

Steve Smith (Australia) – 848

Rishabh Pant (India) – 801

Kane Williamson (New Zealand) – 786

Usman Khawaja (Australia) – 766

Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) – 746

Rohit Sharma (India) – 746

Jonny Bairstow (England) – 742

Men’s ODI batting rankings

Babar Azam (Pakistan) – 892

Imam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) – 815

Rassie van der Dussen (South Africa) – 789

Quinton de Kock (South Africa) – 784

Virat Kohli (India) – 774

Rohit Sharma (India) – 770

Ross Taylor (New Zealand) – 752

David Warner (Australia) – 737

Jonny Bairstow (England) – 732

Aaron Finch (Australia) – 715

Men’s T20I batting rankings

Babar Azam (Pakistan) – 818

Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) – 794

Aiden Markram (South Africa) – 757

Dawid Malan (England) – 754

Suryakumar Yadav (India) – 732

Aaron Finch (Australia) – 716

Devon Conway (New Zealand) – 682

Nicholas Pooran (West Indies ) – 667

Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) – 661

Rassie van der Dussen (South Africa) – 658

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