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