Babar Azam became only the fourth Pakistan batsman to attain the summit in ICC ODI rankings history.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam ended Virat Kohli's long reign and became the No. 1 batsman in the ICC Men's ODI Player Ranking in the latest update released on Wednesday. Kohli had held the position for a record 1258 days before his marginal dip in form.
In the recent past, Kohli has not been highly involved in 50-overs cricket as well and in his most recent ODI assignment – a three-match ODI series against England at home last month – did not materialize into the scores he is known for.
On other hand, Azam, has been amongst the runs scorers against South Africa, he was in fine form in all three ODIs as scored 103, 31, and 94, totalling 228 runs.
Azam became only the fourth Pakistan batsman to attain the summit in ICC ODI rankings history after Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003).
However, as soon as the rankings were out, former India opener Wasim Jaffer, known for finding something funny in everyday cricket life had a special message for the Pakistan skipper.
Jaffer congratulated the batsman but also took a cheeky dig at the same time. Responding to ICC Media’s official Twitter handle with a wink, Jaffer wrote "Congratulations @babarazam258, well deserved. But don’t get too comfy at the top, you know how much Virat Kohli loves chasing #ICCRankings".
Currently, Babar Azam is leading Pakistan against the Proteas in a four-match T20I series, which is drawn 1-1, whereas Kohli is leading his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Chennai.
The Indian skipper will, however, not get a chance to regain his spot soon as India will play the next 50-overs clash during the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in June this year.
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