DUBAI: Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Australia’s hard-hitting opener Travis Head on Wednesday, entered the Top 10 of the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, led by Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam.
Gurbaz played a pivotal role in leading Afghanistan to their first-ever ODI series victory over South Africa, finishing the three-match series as the highest run-scorer.
The right-handed batter accumulated 194 runs at a brilliant average of 64.66 despite falling for a duck in the series opener. He recovered from a dismal start and smashed an anchoring century in the second ODI.
He continued his purple patch in the third ODI and scored a magnificent 89 up the order in Afghanistan’s seven-wicket defeat.
As a result, Rahmanullah Gurbaz jumped 10 places to eighth (692) and became the first-ever Afghanistan batter to make it to the Top 10 of the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings.
On the other hand, Australia’s explosive opener Travis Head leapt seven spots to ninth (684), courtesy of his unbeaten 154-run knock against England in the first ODI of the ongoing five-match series.
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Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ace batter Babar Azam extended his stay at the summit of the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings with 824 rating points, way ahead of Indian counterpart Rohit Sharma (765), who is closely followed by compatriots Shubman Gill (763) and Virat Kohli (746).
Besides ODI Batting Rankings, ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings also witnessed a notable shakeup as returning India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant re-entered the Top 10.
Pant, who scored a well-crafted century in India’s second innings in the first home Test against Bangladesh, secured sixth position in the Test Batting Rankings, led by England’s Joe Root.
India’s skipper Sharma, who registered two single-digit scores in the aforementioned fixture, slipped five places to 10th, paving the way for Mohammad Rizwan to climb up to eighth while Babar Azam remained at 11th.
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