Basit Ali labels ICC as Babar Azam's biggest enemy as batter retains World No.1 ranking

Former Pakistan National Cricket Team player Basit Ali has raised serious questions over the position of Babar Azam and Shubman Gill in the latest ICC Men's ODI Rankings for Batters.

In the rankings, Pakistan captain Babar Azam occupies the No.1 spot with 824 rating points and he is followed by India captain Rohit Sharma, who is at No.2 position with 765 rating points. The next two batters on the list are also Indians, as Shubman Gill (763 rating points) and Virat Kohli (746 rating points) take the No.3 and No.4 spots, respectively.

Among the top 4 batters, only Rohit Sharma has been delivering consistent performances while the rest of the three stars haven't been at their absolute best in recent times.

In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Basit Ali discussed the ICC rankings and cheekily stated that the governing body doesn't want the Pakistan captain to perform, which is why they place him at No.1 so that he doesn't improve further. He also questioned Gill's spot in the rankings. Basit Ali said:

"When I saw the ICC ranking (ODI batters), Babar Azam was at the top, number two was Rohit Sharma, number three was Shubman Gill, and then there was Virat Kohli at number four. I did not find it necessary to read the remaining names because I couldn't see Travis Head and Rachin Ravindra. I think the ICC wants that Babar doesn't perform. He would be happy with being the number one-ranked batter in ODIs. Who gives these rankings? On what basis are Babar Azam and Shubman Gill there?"

Basit Ali brutally lashed out at the International Cricket Council, highlighting Babar Azam's last ODI appearance and said:

"Babar's last ODI was at the last year's World Cup. We saw the likes of Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Travis Head, and Virat Kohli at the World Cup. They scored three-four hundreds in the tournament. For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman scored a century each. Babar Azam did not score a single hundred. His last hundred came against Nepal in the Asia Cup. What kind of ranking do they give?"

Notably, Babar's last ODI appearance came against the England National Cricket Team on November 11 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata Knight Riders. In that ODI World Cup 2023 match, the Pakistan captain amassed 38 runs off 45 balls, before being dismissed.

The people at ICC are Babar Azam's enemies - Basit Ali

Ali shockingly labeled ICC as Babar Azam's enemy and said that the Pakistan skipper himself would admit that he is not the No.1 ODI batsman in the world.

"The people at ICC are Babar Azam's enemies. If you asked Babar who is the current number one, he would also pick Travis Head or Virat Kohli. Even he wouldn't say that he is the number one."

Overall, Babar has featured in 117 ODIs for Pakistan. In those games, he has managed to score 5729 runs at an amazing average of 56.72 and a strike rate of 88.75. The Pakistan batting superstar has also smashed 19 tons and 32 half-centuries in the format.