Babar Azam outshines Virat Kohli as number 1 ODI batsman

In keeping with the latest ICC rankings, the star batsman and pride of Pakistani cricket team Babar Azam has added another jewel to his crown recently, as he snatches the number 1 ODI batsman rank from the Indian captain Virat Kohli. The Pakistan’s all-three formats captain, with his boundless dedication and continuous hard work, now tops the ICC’s chart of best ODI batsman, and is the fourth Pakistani to have achieved this milestone.

The universally renowned Pakistani batsman Babar Azam had started off his journey with the street cricket, like majority of the cricketers. However, his passion and strong-minded devotion to the bat and ball sports earned him the critical esteem and the national and international recognition he truly deserved.

Babar Azam made his first appearance as the Under-19 batsman in 2009, when he was only 15 years old. And, on account of his incredible craft with bat and brilliant cover drives, the batsman had startled the audience, with his classical 129 off 132 deliveries against West Indies in ICC’s Under 19 world cup. Hence, it was only then, the cricket veterans assumed the exceptional skipper from Pakistan’s side was emerging.

Moreover, after being a constant player in U-19, Babar tried his luck and applied for the national cricket team. In 2015, Babar received his first ODI cap in Gaddafi stadium, Lahore. And, by the time of his ODI debut, the batsman already had six centuries and more than 2000 List ‘A’ runs at an average of 47.88 to his name.

Ever since, the King of cricket Babar Azam had been unstoppable. He has played across all three formats, has been an essential part of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, and has performed remarkably at both national and International pitches, giving a spine-chilling competitions to the bowlers every time.

At present, Babar Azam leads the green shirts as captain across all three formats, namely test, ODI and T20I. And, ever since his reign, Pakistan’s cricket team has been escalating to victories and accomplishments with each tour and cricket combat.

Also, serving as the captain of the Pakistani cricket team, Babar has upgraded his batting skills too, adding one after other centuries to his scores lineup. And, it is therefore the reason; the star-batsman of Pakistan now succeeds the rank of the best batsmen globally.

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Babar Azam becomes number 1 ODI batsman

With his glamorous game of fours and sixes in latest Pakistan VS SA series, the legendary Babar Azam, on Wednesday, 14^th April 2021, has finally knocked down the Indian hard-hitter Virat Kohli from the ICC’s number 1 ODI batsman’s position, and now rules the cricket universe as the topnotch ODI batsman with 865 points. The Indian skipper was on top of the table since October 2017, since he snatched the spot from South Africa’s Ab De Villiers.  

The Pakistan skipper and runs machine Babar Azam propelled to the top of the table after scoring 228 runs in the recently concluded ODI series between Pakistan and South Africa.

 Here to mention, Babar Azam is the fourth Pakistani cricketer to have climbed the ICC’s ODI table top, previous three being the renowned Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas and Muhammad Yousuf.

Talking about his latest achievement, Babar Azam stated,

“I feel privileged and honoured to have joined the company of stalwarts like Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad and Mohammad Yousuf, who will always be the shining stars of Pakistan cricket,”

“This is another milestone in my career, which will now require even more hard work and absolute consistency with the bat in order for me to hold on to the ranking for an extended period of time, like Sir Vivian Richards from January 1984 to October 1988 and Kohli for 1,258 days.”

Furthermore, talking about his future goals and past accomplishments, Babar mentioned,

 “I have also previously topped the T20I rankings, but the ultimate ambition and goal is to lead the Test rankings, which are the real testament and reward to a batsman’s calibre, reputation and skills. I understand that to achieve this objective, I will not only have to perform consistently, but more importantly, against the top sides”

“I am looking forward to this challenge and remain confident I will be able to accomplish this target with the support of my teammates and coaching staff. But at this stage, I will savor the moment as it has come almost 18 months after I was first appointed the white-ball captain and that too at the back of my performances that helped Pakistan become the first Asian side to win two ODI series in South Africa.”

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