DUBAI: Pakistani skipper Babar Azam’s dream run in the ICC T20I rankings continues as he has become the top-ranked batter in the world for the longest period of time breaking former Indian captain Virat Kohli’s record.
Kohli was the No 1 ranked T20I batter for a total of 1,013 days during his reign last decade, but Babar has now surpassed this number following his long-standing stay at the top.
The star Pakistan batter is currently rated as the No 1 batter in T20Is and ODIs and recently suggested he was keen to try and claim top billing in all three formats of the game.
There was little change within the latest T20I rankings that were released by the ICC on Wednesday, with India left-hander Ishan Kishan dropping one place inside the top 10 to seventh on the list for batters.
Ireland young gun Harry Tector moved up a massive 55 places to 66th following his impressive series with the bat against India, while Deepak Hooda jumped a whopping 414 spots to equal 104th overall.
While Joe Root hung on to his narrow lead as the top-ranked Test batter, there was some big movement behind him following the completion of England’s home series against New Zealand.
Player of the Series Daryl Mitchell rose four places to 12th on the latest batter rankings, while fellow Kiwi Tom Blundell jumped 11 spots to 20th.
Root’s England team-mate Jonny Bairstow also caught the eye with a 20-place improvement seeing the 32-year-old move to 21st on the Test batter list.
New Zealand workhorse Neil Wagner dropped a spot to 10th on the latest rankings for bowlers, with England duo Stuart Broad (up one spot to 13th) and Jack Leach (up 13 places to 25th) among the notable movers.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan dropped a spot to third on the all-rounder rankings following a disappointing second Test against West Indies, with India veteran Ravi Ashwin taking his place in second.
West Indies’ left-hander Kyle Mayers jumped three places to eighth on the all-rounder rankings following his Player of the Match performance against Bangladesh.
The recent rise of Australia’s Josh Hazlewood as a dominant white-ball bowler continued as the in-form seamer moved up two places to equal fifth on the latest ODI rankings.
Hazlewood is already No 1 on the T20I rankings and his move up the ODI list comes on the back of a strong spell of 2/22 in the final 50-over match of the series against Sri Lanka.
Chris Woakes’ absence during England’s recent ODI series against the Netherlands saw the tall seamer drop two spots to fourth on the latest rankings, with New Zealand quick Matt Henry (second) and Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi (third) both rising a place behind the top-ranked Trent Boult.
There was also a small re-shuffle inside the top 10 on the ODI batter rankings, with Australia skipper Aaron Finch dropping two spots to 12th as Root and Shai Hope moved up to equal 10th.
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