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Babar Azam: Rankings watch in Test matches

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,824
Virat Kohli is back at the top of the batsmen’s list in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings as Australia’s Steve Smith slipped behind the India captain in the latest update carried out on Wednesday.

Kohli, who had struck a fine 136 in the day-night Kolkata Test against Bangladesh last week to reach 928 points, is now five points clear as Smith’s knock of 36 in the Adelaide Test against Pakistan saw him slip to 923 points from 931 before the match.

Australia opener David Warner’s epic 335 not out has lifted him 12 places to the fifth position while Marnus Labuschagne is in the top 10 for the first time after being ranked as low as 110th at the start of the year.

Fast bowler Mitchell Starc is another Australia player to gain in the latest update, which also takes into account performances in the drawn New Zealand-England Test in Hamilton and the one in Lucknow that saw the West Indies defeat Afghanistan by nine wickets. Starc has moved up four places to 14th after grabbing seven wickets in the Adelaide Test.

Pakistan middle-order batsman Babar Azam has moved up two places to 13th, thanks to his fighting knock of 97 in the first innings, while left-handed opener Shan Masood has gained 10 places to reach a career-best 47th position after striking 68 in the second innings. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, one of the stars of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2018, has moved up 13 places to 49th among bowlers.

England captain Joe Root is back in the top 10 after spending a week outside it, his innings of 226 pulling him up to seventh from 11th. Rory Burns’s second Test century has pushed him into the top 40 for the first time.

For New Zealand, Ross Taylor has gained two places to reach 16th among batsmen and Tim Southee has moved up one place to 13th among bowlers.

West Indies captain Jason Holder’s five wickets have helped him move up one slot to third place with a career-best 830 rating points and he has also consolidated his position at the top of the all-rounders’ list.

Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall has broken into the top 50 with a 10-wicket haul while centurion Shamarh Brooks has risen 68 places to 62nd.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/1514691

Batting rankings
13 (+2) Babar Azam 698 points (career high)
47 (+10) Shan Masood 527 points (career high)

Bowling rankings
49 (+13) Shaheen Shah Afridi 335 points (career high)
 
Root gained 50 points with that double century.
Too many considering how dead the pitch was.

I expect Babar to be in the top 10 by the end of the Bangladesh tour if not at the end of the Sri Lanka one.
 
If they ask for positives, tell them we dethroned the GOAT
He isn't even in top-10 test bats of all time, let alone GOAT. Lol....kids these days....

I'd have following ahead of him,

Don
Tendulkar
Lara
Kallis
Ponting
Gavaskar
Richards
Dravid
Sanga
ABCD
Greg C
Sobers
........
 
In Top 15, we have 4 from Indian players, 4 from new Zealand, 3 from Australia, 2 from England, one from Pakistan and 1 from Lanka

Congratulations Indian boys :)
 
Steve Smith not playing test cricket for 1 year also effected his overall points which were quite a lot before that.
 
Steve Smith not playing test cricket for 1 year also effected his overall points which were quite a lot before that.

Kohli had surpassed Smith right after Smith had missed only one match because of ban. And judging by Smith's struggle in SA, missing that match probably did him good.
 
Kohli will never surpass Smith's average given the nature of his home tracks, but beyond those stats, he is neck to neck when it comes to performances in testing conditions. Race to top between these two will be interesting to see.
 
Kohli had surpassed Smith right after Smith had missed only one match because of ban. And judging by Smith's struggle in SA, missing that match probably did him good.

If there is anyone other than Smith who deserves no 1 ranking in tests its Kohli. However, I am just putting forward the facts that Smith has missed quite few matches while Kohli during that time was exceptional.

Smith getting no 1 ranking in tests back again during the ashes just shows that how much points he previously had that even after missing 1 whole year he still got the no 1 ranking in few matches.

Definitely would be a great competition between two greats of the game.
 
Days spent as No.1
(All Formats)

2454 - Virat Kohli
1184 - Smith
45 - Root
11 - Williamson
 
4/12/2018

No.1 Odi Batsman - Kohli
No.1 Test Batsman - Kohl

4/12/2019

No.1 Odi Batsman - Kohli
No.1 Test Batsman - Kohli
 
Days spent as No.1
(All Formats)

2454 - Virat Kohli
1184 - Smith
45 - Root
11 - Williamson

Babar has been no 1 in T20s longer than Root and Williamson in any format, you have missed him.
 
Warner and Labu Huge jump

Test Rankings

Before Pak Series/After Pak Series

Warner - 23/5
Labuschagne - 35/8
 
Warner and Labu Huge jump

Test Rankings

Before Pak Series/After Pak Series

Warner - 23/5
Labuschagne - 35/8

This is so random.
So Labu jumped 27 spots just because he scored runs against the 7th ranked team AT home?
 
#1 in tests
#1 in ODIs

Captain of #1 test team

Legendaaan ch aunda tera yaaar ni!!! - Sidhu Moosewala :akhtar
 
no matter how far ahead he is, smith always catches him and then vice versa. Seems like djokovic and nadal.

kohli if he focuses less on t20 then I think he can beat smith in tests. For now smith is ahead because he performed vs india last time round despite losing the s3ries.
 
Days spent as No.1
(All Formats)

2454 - Virat Kohli
1184 - Smith
45 - Root
11 - Williamson

This is a very relevant stat.

It just goes to show the only two proper tier 1 batsmen of this generation are Kohli and Smith only.

Williamson, Root represent Sangakkara and Kallis of this generation. Run machines and always there but never number 1 material.
 
This is a very relevant stat.

It just goes to show the only two proper tier 1 batsmen of this generation are Kohli and Smith only.

Williamson, Root represent Sangakkara and Kallis of this generation. Run machines and always there but never number 1 material.

Kallis was a proper allrounder. Don't think you can compare him to Root
 
Good on him would of liked him to convert that 100 and 97 into even bigger scores but well done, there's only so much you can do with 7-8 other tail-enders in the line-up.
 
Unfortunately he is playing in a wrong era.

Forever destined to live in a greater player's shadow.. :smith
 
Will Babar Azam break into the top 10 of the ICC Test Rankings after the series against Sri Lanka?

Babar needs 280 in his next 4 innings to breach the 40 mark for his career average and he is currently 13 in the test rankings.

Labu was I think around 20 before his series against Pakistan and is now standing at 7 or 8 due to him scoring 340-ish in the two match series against Pakistan. Considering Sri Lanka is ranked 2 spots higher than Pakistan, if Babar scores around 230-240 he can easily get in the top 10.

Will he though?
 
Yes he will, unless, PCB prepares pitches that support sri lankan bowlers more than pakistanis and I actually think that PCB is incompetent enough to actually do that.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam reaches a career-best 728 pts in the Test batting rankings <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/6s8HjncJp1">pic.twitter.com/6s8HjncJp1</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1206491402512805889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Babar is in top 10 in all three formats
He is only 2nd to Kohli as for as ranking is concerned
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam and Virat Kohli are the only two batsmen in the top 10 in all three formats of the ICC rankings <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1206499756249407489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
MashaAllah.

Keep doing hardwork Babar.

You will achieve great things in your career.
 
Good going... If he keeps his head down and continues working hard than I am sure he is going to set a legacy for next generation of Pakistani batsmen to follow. It would definitely have a huge impact on their performances.
 
Congrats to Virat Kohli. Hope he never loses his no. 1 ranking.

amazing player ... abs n pure class ... do hope he loses the #1 ranking to Babar in all formats ... :P


smith in test is a beast but as a complete package, no1 comes close to kholi ....
 
Exceptional from Babar.

Hopefully he will remain in the top rankings for a long time to come now.

A few more big scores and he can get in top 5.
 
Exceptional from Babar.

Hopefully he will remain in the top rankings for a long time to come now.

A few more big scores and he can get in top 5.

Getting into the top 5 won't be too difficult, especiay with 3 games against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at home. Breaking into the top 3 is the real challenge. Williamson is at 3 with 864 points. Going over 850 points is difficult and makes you an elite player, 900 points is rare and onlt the very very best can do it. If Babar does well in England next year, he will be top 3 or 4 I reckon.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam and Virat Kohli are the only two batsmen in the top 10 in all three formats of the ICC rankings <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1206499756249407489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Yaar na Karo.
We can't handle the situation
 
Needs to fill his boots big style next 3 test matches.
I'm talking 500 runs in 3 tests!!
That should get him to the best of the rest behind Smith kohli Williamson
 
Babar is very similar to Kohli in one regard, both were universally acknowledged as special batsmen very early in their career. Both Kohli and Babar had a relatively rough start to their test career but they fixed that quickly. Obviously Kohli is more talented but Babar is special in his own way. After Kohli retires, I can see Babar being the top batsman in the world.
 
Kohli is mentally stronger than Babar right now. That is difference , Babar can get very very close to Virat at some point of time , but it will take some more extra effort.
 
dont understand how rankings work.

with only 20 tests and relatively low average, how is he no. 9
 
dont understand how rankings work.

with only 20 tests and relatively low average, how is he no. 9
Recent tests are given more weight age.

Babars been averaging 60 in recent times
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam has risen to a career-high number 6 in the updated ICC Test Batting Rankings <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/nmWmqCRTsp">pic.twitter.com/nmWmqCRTsp</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1209381805851389952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babar Azam has risen to a career-high number 6 in the updated ICC Test Batting Rankings <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/nmWmqCRTsp">pic.twitter.com/nmWmqCRTsp</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1209381805851389952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
One more series and he will be in top 3. His biggest win would be to challenge Kohli or Smith spot
 
One more series and he will be in top 3. His biggest win would be to challenge Kohli or Smith spot

I think it will take more than one series. In this series Babar scored around 260 runs and was out only once and with that he gained 39 points. Next series is against Bangladesh(if it happens) who are ranked lower than Pakistan. If he produces same
kind of results he’ll probably get around 30-35 points only. Williamson is sitting at #3 with 864 points so doesn’t seem like Babar would be able to cross him.

One thing though can work in his favor is if Williamson fails in current tour of Australia and above happens for Babar then yeah he can propel to 3rd position. Sooner or later he will get there.

England tour will decide if he can ever challenge Smith or Kohli.
 
Babar, as much talented he is, I don't think he will cross Smith or Kohli anytime soon.

Not in stature at all but rankings are very subjective. A good series in England with few daddy hundreds can give him a lot of points.

No the gap is too big right. You would need both Babar to do amazing and the other two to fail.

Kane has a good lead too. However I think minimum of #4 should be aim this time next year.
 
Not in stature at all but rankings are very subjective. A good series in England with few daddy hundreds can give him a lot of points.

It gets quite difficult once you get into the 800+ mark. You have to consistently keep scoring 50s or 100s. One score below 50 and you lose points.

He needs to score a 200 against Bangladesh to get a decent chunk of points.
 
1st in T20Is, 3rd in ODIs, and now on the verge of breaking into the Top 5 in the purest format of the game.
 
Kohli's ICC rating was languishing in the 700s not too long ago. Smith, the leg spinner, went from his initial 20 test depressive reading to becoming the second best of all time in terms of Test batting average. So, it's more than doable. Didn't his fellow Pakistani Yousaf go from around 700 points to 933 ICC points in the record breaking year of 2006?

The ascent to number 6 is just the beginning for this immensely gifted young man. He needs to detach himself from the uncontrollables like home territory, more tests and a better supporting cast etc. All he can do is work within his sphere of influence which is the gym, the nets, the PCB academy and his theatre - the ground. And that's what he's probably doing right now - sweating his way to success. With his burning ambition, sky is the limit. He would do well to emulate the 2 aforementioned thirty plus protagonists in terms of mind-set and work ethic so he can sustain this onslaught on the rankings and be firmly on top when he is their age.
 
I am happy if Babar is number 3 or 4 behind such illustrious names - what that means is that he is good enough and then its a matter of him playing match winning knocks only
 
The Pakistan quartet of Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam has made striking gains in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings.

Babar Azam in career-best sixth position, Abid Ali 62nd after only two Tests
Career-bests for Shan Masood, Oshada Fernando

The Pakistan quartet of Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam has made striking gains in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after figuring in only the second instance of the top four batsmen of a side making centuries in the same Test innings.

Babar has attained a career-best sixth position after his unbeaten 100 against Sri Lanka in the Karachi Test, which Pakistan won by 263 runs to clinch the two-match series 1-0, while Abid’s second successive century has pushed him up to 62nd position after only two Tests.

Abid’s 473 rating points are the second best by a Pakistan batsman after two Tests, only below Umar Akmal’s tally of 499. The all-time high for a batsman after two Tests is 506 rating points in the name of late Australia opener Phil Hughes.

If Abid top-scored with 174, his partner Shan too struck a fine 135 in a 278-run opening stand, moving from 52nd to a career-best 40th position. Captain Azhar’s 118 has helped him gain three places and reach 26th in the latest rankings update.

Another Pakistan player to progress in the batting rankings is Asad Shafiq (up two places to 20th) while new-ball bowlers Mohammad Abbas (up three places to 15th) and Shaheen Afridi (up eight places to 39th) have also advanced after finishing with five and six wickets, respectively.

Sri Lanka opener Oshada Fernando’s fighting century in the second innings has lifted him 17 places to a career-best 52nd place while Niroshan Dickwella (up two places to 31st) and Dinesh Chandimal (up one place to 33rd) have advanced after scoring a half-century each.

Among bowlers, Lahiru Kumara has moved from 36th to 32nd and Kasun Rajitha from 50th to 49th.

In the ICC World Test Championship, Pakistan and Sri Lanka both have 80 points, with India leading the points table with 360 points.

Australia are second at 216 points after winning the opening match of their ongoing three-Test series against New Zealand and could potentially go up to 296 at the end of the series. England, who are on 56 points, having played only a drawn 2-2 Ashes series, go head to head with South Africa in a four-match series starting with the Boxing Day Test at Centurion. South Africa have yet to gain a point after figuring in a three-match series in India.

Each series of the WTC is worth 120 points, distributed evenly over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 points for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.

The top two teams at the end of the league will play the final in the UK in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test Champions.


screencapture-icc-cricket-media-releases-1545051-2019-12-24-19_01_27.jpg

https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/1545051
 
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Kohli's ICC rating was languishing in the 700s not too long ago. Smith, the leg spinner, went from his initial 20 test depressive reading to becoming the second best of all time in terms of Test batting average. So, it's more than doable. Didn't his fellow Pakistani Yousaf go from around 700 points to 933 ICC points in the record breaking year of 2006?

The ascent to number 6 is just the beginning for this immensely gifted young man. He needs to detach himself from the uncontrollables like home territory, more tests and a better supporting cast etc. All he can do is work within his sphere of influence which is the gym, the nets, the PCB academy and his theatre - the ground. And that's what he's probably doing right now - sweating his way to success. With his burning ambition, sky is the limit. He would do well to emulate the 2 aforementioned thirty plus protagonists in terms of mind-set and work ethic so he can sustain this onslaught on the rankings and be firmly on top when he is their age.

That was in 2015. So my point is Babar needs to put in current performances for > 1.5 years at least to come close. As i see some fans are expecting him to break into top 2/3 by next year which is impossible.
 
It gets quite difficult once you get into the 800+ mark. You have to consistently keep scoring 50s or 100s. One score below 50 and you lose points.

He needs to score a 200 against Bangladesh to get a decent chunk of points.

His consistency is getting better and hopefully he churns out some daddy hundreds in future. Should have gone bigger in Adelaide and Brisbane.
 
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