ODI rankings: Basit Ali declares ICC as Babar Azam’s ‘enemy’
Former cricketer Basit Ali has raised serious concerns about the latest ICC ODI rankings, questioning how Babar Azam and Shubman Gill became the top-ranked batters.
Babar Azam, Pakistan’s white-ball captain, is ranked number one with 824 rating points. He is followed by Rohit Sharma with 765 points, Shubman Gill with 763 points, and Virat Kohli with 746 points.
Basit disagrees with these rankings and is frustrated about how they are determined. He feels that the rankings do not reflect recent performances and suggests that the ICC might not want Azam to perform well.
“I saw the ICC rankings and was surprised to see Babar Azam at the top, followed by Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli. I didn’t even look further because I didn’t see names like Travis Head and Rachin Ravindra,” Basit said.
He believes the ICC might be unfairly favoring Azam. “I think the ICC doesn’t want Babar to perform well. Babar might be happy with his ranking, but who decides these rankings and on what basis?”
Basit also mentioned the 2023 World Cup, pointing out that players like Travis Head and Rachin Ravindra performed exceptionally well but are not ranked higher.
“Babar’s last ODI was in last year’s World Cup. Players like Rachin Ravindra, Quinton de Kock, Travis Head, and Virat Kohli scored multiple centuries in the tournament,” Basit added.
“For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman each scored a century, but Babar Azam didn’t score any. His last century was against Nepal in the Asia Cup. How are these rankings decided?”
Basit concluded by saying that if you asked Babar, he would likely pick Travis Head or Virat Kohli as the top batter, rather than himself. He feels that the ICC rankings are biased against Azam.