'ICC is Babar Azam's Enemy': Former Pakistan Cricketer Questions ODI Rankings

Pakistan batting star Babar Azam continues to sit atop the ICC ODI rankings despite not having played a one-day international since the world cup last year. In the list, Babar is followed by India captain Rohit Sharma at the second spot while Shubman Gill completes the top-three.

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Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has raised questions over the ranking system though, asking why a player who hasn’t played any ODI cricket in nearly nine months is still ranked no. 1 batter in the world.

He pointed out how the likes of Virat Kohli, Rachin Ravindra and Travis Head had productive outings at the 2023 ODI World Cup hitting multiple centuries while Babar’s last century in the format came against Nepal in the Asia Cup which was held right before the global showpiece event.

“I looked at the rankings and Babar Azam is at the top followed by no. 2 Rohit Sharma at 2, no, 3 Shubman Gill and no. 4 Virat Kohli. I didn’t find it worth my while checking it any further. Why? It doesn’t feature Travis Head, Quinton de Kock, Rachin Ravindra. I think ICC doesn’t want Babar to perform and they want him to be happy with the fact that he’s ODI’s no. 1 batter. Who sets these rankings? On what basis Gill and Babar are there? Gill recently played three ODIs in Sri Lanka, Babar’s last ODI was in the world cup,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.

“Ravindra, De Kock, Head, Kohli – all had multiple centuries during the world cup. For Pakistan, Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman scored hundreds. Babar didn’t score a century. His last hundred was against Nepal at Asia Cup. What kind of ranking system this this? A guy who last played an ODI in October-November, he’s your top-ranked batter!” he added.

Neither Head nor De Kock or Ravindra are in the top-10 list and Basit further questioned on the ranking system asking what performances has Gill given in recent time to deserve a third spot.

“What is Gill’s performance to merit a no. 3 spot? Who are these people sitting in ICC? They make useless decisions. ICC is Babar’s enemy. You ask Babar and he himself will pick Travis Head or Virat Kohli or Ravindra’s name for the no.1 ODI batter. How are they allotting points?” he said.