Similar to the legendary Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, and Mohammad Yousuf, Babar Azam has officially become the 4th Pakistani batsman to summit the ODI batting table despite a few irregular displays in the past few seasons.
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Babar moved ahead of Indian top-order batsman, Virat Kohli, after hitting a century in the first match of the ODI series against South Africa. But, he slipped to second after hitting just 31 in the next match. However, after berating Proteas bowling with a refreshing 94 in the series finale, Babar once again leapfrogged Kohli, who slipped from the top spot for the first time since replacing AB de Villiers four years ago.
While talking to the PCB Media Department, Babar said that “this is another milestone in my career, which will now require even more hard work and absolute consistency with the bat in order for me to hold on to the ranking for an extended period of time, like Sir Vivian Richards from January 1984 to October 1988 and Virat Kohli for 1,258 days”.
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Acknowledging his achievement with a little touch of modesty, as it is with most high-achievers of the game, Azam expressed motivation to “lead the Test rankings, which are the real testament and reward to a batsman’s caliber, reputation and skills”.
