Pakistan captain Babar Azam, on Wednesday, turned the one batter to characteristic within the prime 3 of ICC Rankings throughout all codecs of the sport. Babar rose to No. 3 within the newest ICC Test Rankings, surpassing former Australia captain Steve Smith following his batting brilliance within the first Test in opposition to Sri Lanka in Galle.
Babar shined with the bat in Pakistan’s first innings, contributing 119 runs to a staff rating of 218 that finally helped the vacationers keep up a correspondence with Sri Lanka’s first innings whole of 222. The Lahore-born additionally chipped in with a half-century as Pakistan accomplished a file chase of 343 to take a 1-0 lead within the 2-match collection.
Babar, who’s No. 1 in ODIs and T20Is, achieved his best-ever profession score factors of 874 within the longest format. Though, former England skipper Joe Root is nicely forward on the No. 1 spot with 923 score factors, whereas Australia’s batting sensation Marnus Labuschagne is on the 2nd spot with 885 factors.
Babar’s teammate Abdullah Shafique superior 23 spots to No. 16 after his sensible 160 throughout Pakistan’s profitable chase. Notably, Shafique had amassed 720 runs in his first six Tests and is at present on 671 score factors, which has been topped solely by legends Sunil Gavaskar (692) and Don Bradman (687) after their first six appearances within the red-ball format.
Another main gainer amongst batters is Dinesh Chandimal, who has reached to 18th place after his scores of 76 and an unbeaten 94 in Sri Lanka’s defeat within the first Test at Galle.
Among bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi has climbed one spot to No. 3 on the again of his four-wicket haul within the first innings of the opening Test. Similarly, Sri Lanka’s Prabath Jayasuriya has acquired forty fourth place amongst Test bowlers, and his 481 score factors can be the fourth-highest within the historical past for bowlers after two Tests.
(*3*)