Pakistan captain Babar Azam created history on Wednesday as he dethroned the legendary Virat Kohli to become just the fourth batsmen from the country to claim the numero-uno spot in One-day International rankings.
Babar, whose 82-ball 94 against South Africa at Centurion during the recently-concluded series, helped him gain 13 points has ended Virat Kohli’s supremacy at the top after a period of 41 months.
Kohli had held the numero-uno spot in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen for a whopping 1258 days and Azam hoped to emulate his consistency as the 26-year-0ld joins the likes of Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, and Mohammad Yousuf, who have previously been crowned as the No.1 batsman in the 50-over game.
“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 Virat Kohli for 1,258 days,” said Babar Azam in a statement released by the PCB.
Babar Azam 🔝🔥
The Pakistan captain has overtaken Virat Kohli to become the No.1 batsman in the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC men's ODI rankings 👑 pic.twitter.com/krxoKRDsSY
— ICC (@ICC) April 14, 2021
After having claimed the No.1 rankings in both white-ball formats at different stages of his career, Babar Azam has now set his eyes on claiming the top spot in the ICC Test rankings and the Pakistani skipper intends to perform consistently against top-sides in order to achieve that.
“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 to achieve this objective, I will not only have to perform consistently, but more importantly, against the top sides,” he added.
As far as his current Test ranking is concerned, Babar Azam is sixth in the list headed by Kane Williamson and followed by Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Root and Virat Kohli.
Also Read: Wasim Jaffer Takes A Cheeky Dig While Congratulating Babar Azam On Becoming No. 1 ODI Batsman