Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Wednesday ended Indian captain Virat Kohli’s long reign at the top of the ICC rankings for batsmen to become only the fourth from his country to attain the pole position.
The 26-year-old right-hand batsman’s 82-ball 94 in the third game ODI series against South Africa helped him gain 13 rating points to reach 865 points.
He now leads the Indian captain by eight points, the ICC said in a statement.
Babar had started the series at 837 rating points but moved up to 858 (ahead of Kohli) after his score of 103 in the first match.
He dropped to 852 by the time of the last weekly rankings update with a score of 32 in the second ODI.
In Tests, Babar has attained a best of fifth position and is currently ranked sixth while in T20Is he is third but has been number one in the past.