ICC ODI Rankings Babar Azam vs Shubman Gill: Before the World Cup to be played in India, a good news has emerged for Babar Azam. In fact, Pakistani captain Babar Azam will remain on top in the ODI batting rankings after Indian opener Shubman Gill was rested for the third and final match of the series against Australia.
Ahead of the three ODIs, the right-handed batsman had a golden opportunity to overtake Babar Azam in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. With two fifty-plus scores, Gill was certainly in a position to score another big score against Australia in the third ODI in Rajkot. However, this young player has been rested from the third ODI. In such a situation, it is difficult for him to defeat Babar.
Gill is second after Babar
After the latest ICC rankings update last Wednesday, the Indian opener is currently ranked second in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen with 814 points and is only 43 rating points behind Babar Azam (857 rating points).
After this, Gill played a stormy inning of 74 runs on 63 balls in the first ODI against Australia on Friday and played a brilliant inning of 104 runs on 97 balls in the second ODI on Sunday. In such a situation, he must have come close to Babar. Although it will be known later whether he has overtaken him or not, but not playing Rajkot ODI in this race can keep him behind Babar.
Gill will have to wait for the World Cup
Gill came back to form during the Asia Cup 2023 and he also maintained his great form against the Australian team to retain the tag of being the next big thing in international cricket. Gill also had a chance to achieve the title of number 1 batsman in the ODI format. However, it looks like he will have to wait until the World Cup to claim this spot.