After retaining his top billing in the recently revealed rankings, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has now been at the top of the T20I rankings for hitters for the greatest number of days. As a consequence, he broke former India captain Virat Kohli‘s record of 1,013 days on top. In the most recent ICC rankings, issued on Wednesday, Babar remained at the top of the T20I standings, ahead of compatriot Mohammad Rizwan. His success in limited-overs cricket has been fantastic, and he now leads the ODI rankings, ahead of second-placed Kohli and third-placed Imam-ul-Haq.

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Following the achievement, the Pakistan Cricket Board praised Babar Azam, adding, “Pakistan is proud of you! For the first time, Babar Azam has surpassed Virat Kohli as the No. 1 hitter in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings. Shaheen Afridi achieves a career-high No. 3 ranking in One-Day Internationals.”

“The Pakistan skipper is now regarded as the No.1 hitter in T20Is and ODIs and recently hinted he was willing to try and claim top billing in all three formats of the game,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement.

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Mohammad Rizwan, Babar’s partner and last year’s ICC T20I player of the year, is ranked second.

Ishan Kishan, the lone Indian in the top 10, is ranked seventh. Kishan entered the top ten following a strong performance in the home series against South Africa and a solid performance in the first T20I against Ireland.

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Babar has been scoring runs for his Pakistan team and leading them from the front in all formats.

“Few would disagree that Babar Azam is the finest player in the world right now when it comes to batting in that top order. Joe Root has an argument for him being incredible. But, you know, when they speak about the big four, Babar is the major one right now,” explained Doull recently when commentating for Sky Sports.