Srinagar: For the first time in more than 1000 days, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is finding tough competition for his thrown of ICC T20 No.1 batting spot with teammate Mohammad Rizwan and India’s rising star Suryakumar Yadav making serious gains.
Babar Azam, Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammad Rizwan in a close tussle for the No.1 spot in the T20I batting rankings.
Babar has continued to hold onto the top spot despite pressure from teammate Rizwan and India’s Yadav until last week. But a string of low scores from Babar, and half-centuries from Rizwan and Suryakumar in the past week could see a shuffle at the top of the rankings this week when the ICC releases the Player Rankings on Wednesday.
Rizwan is the top run-scorer in the Asia Cup so far with 192 runs, including two fifties in three matches. The Pakistan opener hit fifties against Hong Kong and India, and also made 43 in the first game against India in the tournament.
Yadav, on the other hand, slammed a sensational 26-ball 68* against Hong Kong. Babar hasn’t had a great run in the tournament with scores of 10, 9 and 14 in the three matches so far.
Currently, Babar sits on top of the batting rankings with 810 rating points. Rizwan with 796 points and Yadav with 792 points follow close on his heels.
Yadav had come close to taking the top spot during India’s ODIs against West Indies. He was the leading run-scorer during the series with 135 runs, but the decision to rest him for the final match meant he missed out on the chance to overtake Babar.
However, the ordinary streak of scores from the Pakistan skipper could see movement at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Batting Rankings for the first time in a while. Babar has been occupying the top spot for more than 1,000 days.
Courtesy :ICC