Babar Azam retains No 1 spot in latest ODI rankings
Cricket
Pakistan captain has also won the Player of the Month Award for August
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Pakistan skipper Babar Azam continued to hold top spot in men's ODI batting rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.
The right-hand batsman, who has also won the Player of the Month award for August 2023, is standing at the No 1 place with 863 points.
However, India batter Shubman Gill has closed the margin considerably on the Pakistan captain, with the gap at the top down to just 103 rating points as the India opener is holding 759 points.
Pakistan do still have three players inside the top 10 batters, but Imam-ul-Haq drops one place to fifth and fellow opener Fakhar Zaman loses three spots and is now at 10th.
Read also: Zaman Khan replaces Naseem Shah in Asia Cup squad
There was also some joy for Pakistan's bowlers on the rankings update, with pace duo Haris Rauf (up eight places to 21st) and Naseem Shah (up 11 spots to equal 51st) improving dramatically despite picking up a niggling injuries during their most recent encounter against India.
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also made some ground on the updated list for ODI bowlers, with the left-armer rising five places to seventh on the back of his nine wickets at the Asia Cup and teammate Hardik Pandya improving four places to sixth on the ODI all-rounder rankings.
