Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has raised questions on the recently released ICC rankings. In the latest ODI rankings, Pakistan captain Babar Azam remains at the first position. At the same time, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli are behind him. Basit Ali says that when Babar Azam has not played any ODI match after the World Cup 2023, then how is he at the number-1 position. During this, he took the names of many other foreign players who have performed well in the 50 over format in the recent past, but their names are not in the rankings. Basit also alleged that the ICC is deliberately stopping Babar’s performance by keeping him at the top position.
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Basit Ali said on his YouTube channel, “When I saw the ICC rankings (ODI batsmen), Babar Azam was at the top, Rohit Sharma at number two, Shubman Gill at number three and Virat Kohli at number four. I did not find it necessary to read the rest of the names, as I could not see Travis Head and Rachin Ravindra. I think the ICC wants Babar not to perform well. He will be happy to be the number one batsman in ODIs. Who gives these rankings? On what basis are Babar Azam and Shubman Gill there.”
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The former Pakistani cricketer further said, “Babar played his last ODI in the World Cup last year. We saw players like Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Travis Head and Virat Kohli in the World Cup. They scored three-four centuries in the tournament. Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman scored one century each for Pakistan. What kind of ranking do they give.”
Babar Azam’s last century in ODI cricket came against Nepal on 30 August 2024, when he scored 151 runs in the Asia Cup. After this, he has scored 4 half-centuries in 13 innings.