ICC Rankings: Babar Azam Extends Lead At Top Of The Rankings, Shubman Gill Rating Points Drop Down

Right before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, ICC updated the ODI rankings and there have been a few key changes in the spots. Talking about the ICC Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings, India’s Mohammed Siraj and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood will enter the 2023 World Cup as the top-ranked ODI bowlers in the world, according to the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday.

The two fast bowlers are level on 669 ranking points after Siraj dropped 11 points during the third ODI of the recently concluded IND Vs AUS ODI series. Afghanistan’s spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman (third, 657) and Rashid Khan (fourth, 655) are there in the top five of the list. Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi (632) climbed two spots to sixth, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc (628) dropped to eighth.

Mohammad Nabi (621) and Kuldeep Yadav (616) also swapped spots with the Afghan off-spinner moving up one place and into the top 10 of the ODI bowling rankings. Kuldeep Yadav however, will get a lot of opportunities to reclaim his spot in the top-10 rankings on familiar spin-friendly tracks of India.

Gap Between Babar Azam And Shubman Gill Widens In The Latest ICC Rankings

In the Latest ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (857 ranking points) holds onto the top spot in the rankings ahead of Indian youngster Shubman Gill (839), who lost eight rating points after missing out on the third ODI against Australia. Rohit Sharma (695) moves into the top 10, replacing Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman (692) who is now in 11th place.

David Warner also moved up and is now tied with Harry Tector at 4th place with 729 rating points. David Warner had a brilliant IND Vs AUS ODI series, scoring three consecutive half-centuries. It will be an interesting battle between Babar Azam, Shubman Gill, Rassie van der Dussen, and David Warner for the top spot during the World Cup.

There was no change in the top 10 of the Men’s ODI All-Rounders Rankings. Shaki Al Hasan is still the number one all-rounder with 349 points and Mohammad Nabi is at number two with 309 rating points. The ICC Men’s ODI rankings were last updated on September 28, 2023.

The ICC Cricket World Cup is set to begin on 5th October with England and New Zealand clashing in the opening game. It will be interesting to see who will be at the top after the World Cup is commenced.