IND vs SA: Shubman Gill Loses No.1 ODI Spot; Babar Azam Reclaims His Top Position

India batter Shubman Gill on Wednesday (20th December) lost his No.1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings updated by the International Cricket Council (ICC). He has been replaced by Pakistan batter Babar Azam, who earlier held the position for more than 950 days.

Shubman Gill and Babar Azam played the ODI last time during the  ICC World Cup 2023 and since then haven’t featured in the format. The reason behind the Pakistan batter gaining the top spot is that the young Indian opener has been rested from the ongoing ODI series, which has resulted in him losing important rating points.

Babar Azam claimed the No.1 spot with ratings of 824 whereas Shubman Gill was dropped to 810 rating points. The India batter would be gutted having lost the top spot. However, he will have plenty of opportunities to surpass Babar as Pakistan are not lined up to play ODI for a long time.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have retained their 3rd and 4th spot. But there has been some change in the lower half. Ireland’s Harry Tector has gained one spot whereas South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen have dropped one spot each after their failure in the first ODI against India.

Here is the ICC ODI rankings for batters

Apart from the ODI rankings, there were some changes in the Test match ratings as well. Australian opener Usman Khawaja after his valiant knock in the first Test against Pakistan climbed four spots up. He is ahead of Babar Azam in the rankings. The Pakistan batter was dropped to the 5th spot after a poor outing in the Perth Test.

Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and Steve Smith retained their 1st, 2nd and 3rd spots respectively. Marnus Labuschagne, who didn’t have a great outing in the Test against Pakistan was dropped to the 8th spot.

Here is ICC Test Rankings for batters:

Apart from Babar Azam; Adil Rashid Becomes the New No.1 Ranked T20I Bowler

Apart from Babar Azam becoming the No.1 ODI batter, England spinner Adil Rashid scripted history as he became the new No.1 ranked T20I bowler. He became only the second player from his country to achieve the feat. He bagged the top spot after his recent performances in the T20I series against West Indies.

West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein also substantial gains in the rankings. He moved up three spots to bag 6th position. Whereas South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi climbed up three places to ninth.

Here’s ICC rankings for T20I bowlers

There were some changes in the T20I rankings for batters as well. West Indies Brandon King climbed to the 6th spot. Suryakumar Yadav after his ton against South Africa extended his lead at the top and now is 100 rating points ahead of Mohammed Rizwan, who is second.