• Pakistan's Babar Azam, right, scored a century against Sri Lanka in the Rawalpindi Test. AFP
    Pakistan's Babar Azam, right, scored a century against Sri Lanka in the Rawalpindi Test. AFP
  • Pakistan's Babar Azam is now ranked ninth in the world among Test batsmen. EPA
    Pakistan's Babar Azam is now ranked ninth in the world among Test batsmen. EPA
  • Babar Azam scored an unbeaten century against Sri Lanka at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. AFP
    Babar Azam scored an unbeaten century against Sri Lanka at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. AFP
  • Babar Azam celebrates after scoring a century during the fifth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi. AFP
    Babar Azam celebrates after scoring a century during the fifth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi. AFP
  • Babar Azam is now in the top 10 ranking for batsmen in all three formats. AFP
    Babar Azam is now in the top 10 ranking for batsmen in all three formats. AFP
  • Babar Azam has scored two centuries in his last three Tests. AFP
    Babar Azam has scored two centuries in his last three Tests. AFP
  • Babar Azam scored a century in Rawalpindi to celebrate Test cricket's return to Pakistan after a decade. AFP
    Babar Azam scored a century in Rawalpindi to celebrate Test cricket's return to Pakistan after a decade. AFP
  • Abid Ali, left, and Babar Azam both scored centuries in the Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka. AFP
    Abid Ali, left, and Babar Azam both scored centuries in the Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka. AFP

Pakistan batsman Babar Azam breaks into top 10 of ICC ranking for Test batsmen


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Pakistan star batsman Babar Azam entered the top 10 of ICC Test batsmen rankings for the first time in his career following a highly productive run against Australia and Sri Lanka.

Babar made 104 against the Aussies in the Brisbane Test but fell short of a century in Adelaide by just three runs. While he couldn't stop Pakistan from falling to innings defeats in both Tests, Babar did prove his class in red-ball cricket having excelled in white-ball formats.

He took his form to the historic home Test series against Sri Lanka, scoring an unbeaten century in the drawn Rawalpindi Test. Babar reached three figures alongside Abid Ali, who became the first batsman in history to score a century on Test and ODI debuts.

Babar is ranked ninth in Test batting and now features in the top 10 table of all three formats of the game. He is ranked third in the ODI format and is the best batsman in the world in T20s.

Meanwhile, Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne stormed into the top five after scoring centuries in three successive Tests. Labuschagne made 185 and 162 against Pakistan before hitting 143 and 50 against New Zealand in the pink-ball Test in Perth.