With Shubman Gill claiming the No. 1 ODI batter spot during the recently held ODI World Cup in 2023, the young batter has lost his top spot to Pakistan’s Babar Azam.
With India losing the 2nd ODI against South Africa by 8 wickets on December 19, Shubman Gill did not feature for the Men in Blue which saw him drop to 2nd in the rankings.
Babar Azam had entered the ODI World Cup as the number one batter but failed to maintain his ranking after Shubman Gill found his form in the quadrennial tournament. Babar had managed to score just 207 runs in 6 matches with a strike rate of 79.
Babar has not played an ODI match after the ODI World Cup but regained his top spot in the latest rankings on December 20.
.@babarazam258 reclaims the No. 1 spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings 📈🥇 pic.twitter.com/604AuMf9hg
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 20, 2023
Babar’s dismal form
After being stripped off his Pakistan captaincy post the World Cup, Babar hasn’t been able to bounce back with his bat. The former skipper struggled to get going against Australia in the 1st Test match at Perth. Pakistan lost their 15th consecutive Test match in Australia and that too by a massive 360-run margin.
He scored a collective total of just 35 runs in his team’s 1st Test. It will be interesting to see whether Shubman regains his spot in the future with the not playing many ODI series because of the T20 World Cup around the corner.
Also Read:IND Vs SA, 3rd ODI: KL Rahul’s Men Look To Seal ODI Series Against The Proteas