Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam begins 2024 as the top-ranked ODI batter in the ICC ODI Batting Rankings, maintaining his No.1 spot from 2022 and 2023.
Babar Azam returned to the No. 1 ODI batting ranking in the last month of 2023, having previously lost his top spot in the World Cup 2023. He now begins the year 2024 as the No. 1 ODI batter for the third consecutive.
Previously, South African star batter AB de Villiers and Indian star batter Virat Kohli had the record of maintaining their top spots four consecutive times at the start of a new year.
AB de Villiers stayed at the top position from 2014 to 2017, and Virat Kohli maintained it from 2018 to 2021. Now, Babar Azam has one more year to regain his No. 1 ODI batter ranking to equal the records of these great batters.
Let’s take a closer look at the great batters’ No. 1 spots by year.
| Player | Year |
| AB de Villiers | 2014 |
| AB de Villiers | 2015 |
| AB de Villiers | 2016 |
| AB de Villiers | 2017 |
| Virat Kohli | 2018 |
| Virat Kohli | 2019 |
| Virat Kohli | 2020 |
| Virat Kohli | 2021 |
| Babar Azam | 2022 |
| Babar Azam | 2023 |
| Babar Azam | 2024 |
The year 2023 proved challenging for Babar Azam, especially during the ODI World Cup, which was particularly tough for him both as a batter and as a captain. This led him to step down his role as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team across all formats, choosing instead to focus solely on his batting.
During the mega event, Babar faced difficulties in finding his form with the bat, managing to score only 320 runs in nine innings. Despite this setback, he scored a total of 1,065 runs in 25 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) throughout 2023, maintaining a respectable average of 46.30.
Babar Azam’s last ODI century came against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023. Following this achievement, he experienced a dip in performance, which did not meet his usual high standards. This slump in form and the subsequent criticism from some former cricketers contributed to his decision to step down from the captaincy.
However, his fans remain hopeful about his potential for a strong comeback this year. Babar is widely recognized for his exceptional batting skills, and there is a general anticipation that he will return to his top form.
