Star batsman Babar Azam has entered into an elite club, joining Indian skipper Virat Kohli in the list of top 10 batsmen of all formats.
Following his hundred at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday, the 25-year-old has now entered into the top 10 Test batsmen on the ICC rankings list published after the completion of Pakistan-Sri Lanka and Australia-New Zealand Test matches.
Babar is currently placed at 9th in Test rankings, 3rd in ODI rankings and 1st in the T20I rankings. The only other player in all three lists is Virat Kohli who is ruling both the Tests and ODIs lists.
| Pos | Player | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virat Kohli | IND | 928 |
| 2 | Steve Smith | Â AUS | 911 |
| 3 | Kane Williamson | Â NZ | 864 |
| 4 | Cheteshwar Pujara | Â IND | 791 |
| 5 | Marnus Labuschagne | Â AUS | 786 |
| 6 | Ajinkya Rahane | Â IND | 759 |
| 7 | David Warner | Â AUS | 755 |
| 8 | Joe Root | Â ENG | 752 |
| 9Â | Babar Azam | Â PAK | 728 |
| 10 | Dimuth Karunaratne | Â SL | 725 |
Top 10 ODI Batsmen
| Pos | Player | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virat Kohli | IND | 895 |
| 2 | Rohit Sharma | Â IND | 863 |
| 3Â | Babar Azam | Â PAK | 834 |
| 4 | Francois du Plessis | Â SA | 820 |
| 5 | Ross Taylor | Â NZ | 817 |
| 6 | Kane Williamson | Â NZ | 796 |
| 7 | David Warner | Â AUS | 794 |
| 8 | Joe Root | Â ENG | 787 |
| 9 | Quinton de Kock | Â SA | 781 |
| 10 | Jason Roy | Â ENG | 774 |
Top 10 T20I Batsmen
| Pos | Player | Team | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Babar Azam | PAK | 879 |
| 2 | Aaron Finch | Â AUS | 810 |
| 3 | Dawid Malan | Â ENG | 782 |
| 4 | Colin Munro | Â NZ | 780 |
| 5 | Glenn Maxwell | Â AUS | 766 |
| 6 | Lokesh Rahul | Â IND | 734 |
| 7 | Evin Lewis | Â WI | 699 |
| 8 | Hazratullah | Â AFG | 692 |
| 9 | Rohit Sharma | Â IND | 686 |
| 10Â | Virat Kohli | Â IND | 685 |
David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson are currently included in the top 10 batsmen in two different formats.
Babar vs Kohli
Ever since Babar’s entry on the international scene, there has been a Babar vs Kohli debate which, although denounced by the former saying Kohli is a great batsman and that he needs to improve his game to be compared to him, is now relevant more than ever.
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Let’s compare their rankings across formats:
| Format | Babar Azam | Virat Kohli | ||
| Rank | Rating | Rank | Rating | |
| Test | 9 | 728 | 1 | 928 |
| ODI | 3 | 834 | 1 | 895 |
| T20I | 1 | 879 | 10 | 685 |
What are your thoughts on Babar Azam? Let us know in the comment section.
Baber is a world class batsman but he still have to achieve many milestones, and at the other side Virat Kohli is one of the best player world have ever seen, just outstanding and excellent. hope both will keep playing like that.
Well , indeed virat has his own class and strokes what are unique and great, although as game goes on, babar is improving and developing his style and technique , and his innate ability to learn and learn quickly , is something making him a matter of thinking, so in my opinion, as babr goes on, soon the world would say that he is the only comparable to kohli…best of luck , the babar e azam…
well Babar is growing, adopting and learning and Kohli is already established match winner, an extraordinary chaser. He is in his own league and it is unfair to compare him with babar, though there are signs that babar can reach there but please do not compare as yet. He idiolizes Kohli let him reach there where he can stand next to him.
What a joke Lol
so we can say together they are number 1. But number 1 all format is shakib al hasan
Virat has a team like India, and what Babar has, this difference is huge. He is class no doubt.
Babar Azam is one of the most talented and brilliant players among all Pakistani cricketers.
He is my favorite player, I like his batting style and he is team responsible.
As, Kolhi’s performance is concerned, he is also one of the best batsmen as well as captain. Being a captain he has performed very well and with his responsibilities.
Babar need to work hard for Test Cricket. specially conversion of 100 into 200 or 300
Let’s not put air in Babar Azam’s head yet for this sort of silly comparison, he is a hugely talented cricketer who has the capacity of becoming a batting genius for Pakistan but he is still on the learning path … Let him focus on his cricket and learn with every game he plays .. let him reach to the point where guys like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith would like to be compared with him not vice versa … Pakistani pundit already made a huge mistake to burden him with the pressures of captaincy so early in his career!
He is a great batsman