Babar Azam overtakes Virat Kohli as No1 batsman in ODI rankings

Pakistan captain takes top spot after bumper series against South Africa

Pakistan's Babar Azam is now the No1 batsman in ODI cricket according to ICC's rankings. Getty

Pakistan's captain Babar Azam has overataken Virat Kohli as the top-ranked ODI batsman. AP

Babar Azam is in the top six ranking for batsmen in all three formats. AFP

Pakistan's captain Babar Azam came close to scoring two centuries in three ODIs against South Africa. AFP

Pakistan's captain Babar Azam celebrates after scoring a century in the first ODI against South Africa in Centurion on April 2, 2021. AFP

Pakistan's captain Babar Azam is the No1 ODI batsman in the world. AFP

Babar Azam led Pakistan to an ODI series win in South Africa. AFP

Pakistan star Babar Azam added another feather to his cap as he rose to the No1 spot in ODI rankings for batsmen on Wednesday.

The Pakistan captain had been chasing the top spot held by India superstar Virat Kohli and the recent three-match series against South Africa was the perfect opportunity to make the move.

Before the three-match ODI series against the Proteas had started, Azam was on 837 ranking points, just 20 behind Kohli. After scoring a century in the first ODI, which his team won, Azam provisionally moved to the top of the rankings before sliding down to second on 852 points after making 31 in the second match by the time the ICC table was updated.

Standing just five ranking points behind Kohli before the start of the third ODI against the Proteas in Centurion, Azam took charge as he scored 94 from 82 balls to set up a 2-1 series win and take over the No1 crown.

His series aggregate of 228 runs from three matches was enough for the No1 crown in ICC rankings, which was updated on Wednesday.

Azam is now the top-ranked batsman in ODI cricket on 865 points, with his reign likely to be a long one as Kohli (857) and third-ranked India opener Rohit Sharma (825) are not scheduled to play one-day cricket in the coming months.

It continues a remarkable period for Azam as a batsman. The right-hander occupies the sixth spot among Test batsmen and third in T20 batting in ICC's rankings.

Azam is the second batsman alongside Kohli among the top six players in ICC rankings in all three formats of the game.

Up until recently, Azam was the No1 batsman in T20 cricket as well, and he also held the record of being the fastest to 1,000 runs. But England's Dawid Malan now claims both those feats.

Malan is on top of T20 rankings table on 892 points, well ahead of Azam who is on 797. The England left-hand batsman is unlikely to lose his spot to Azam during the South Africa-Pakistan four-match T20 series given the size of the gap between them.