DUBAI: Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam has slipped to the third spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Test Batting Rankings.
As per the latest rankings shared by the ICC, the right-handed batter has been demoted to third place as he failed in two innings of the ongoing home Test series against New Zealand.
Notably, Babar played a magnificent 161-run knock in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand but he could score a mere 14 in the second.
The captain then remained unlucky in the first innings of the ongoing second Test and could score 24 runs following a mix-up between the wicket with opening batter Imam-ul-Haq.
His recent performance, henceforth, resulted in Australia’s Steve Smith replacing him in the rankings.
It is apropos to mention that after accumulating 348 runs in the home series against England, Babar moved to his career-best second position in the Test batting rankings.
Besides Babar, opening batter Abdullah Shafique, who is going through a rough patch also slipped in the rankings as he was demoted 11 spots, moving to 37th rank.
Meanwhile, Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne continued his domination on the Test batting rankings as he managed to hold on to his top spot while his skipper Pat Cummins held the top spot in Test bowling rankings.
READ: ‘It was my dream to score my first century in Karachi,’ says Saud
