Azam is one step closer in his quest to become the No. 1 batsman in all three formats of the game after the Pakistan captain moved closer to the top Test rankings.
While Azam already holds top billing in both the white-ball formats, he has yet to reach the pinnacle at the Test level and is still behind England’s Joe Root.
Root is clear at the top of the Test list, but his scintillating century in the opening Test of Pakistan’s ongoing series against Sri Lanka in Galle helped Babar rise a place to third overall and a career-high rating of 874 points.
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Babar Azam scored around 55% of Pakistan’s first innings during the first Test, with the right-handed batsman contributing 119 runs to the team’s score of 218, which eventually led the team to stay in touch with Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 222. helped.
The in-form captain was not the only Pakistani player to catch the eye on the latest rankings, with star pacer Shaheen Afridi also jumping a spot in the list of Test bowlers.
Afridi picked up four wickets during the first innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka and this propelled him past India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and third in the bowler rankings.
Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafiq was adjudged Player of the Match for his match-winning century in the second innings of the Galle Test as he jumped 23 places in the batsman rankings to 16th place with 671 rating points.
After six Tests, only two batsmen have more points – Sunil Gavaskar (692) and Donald Bradman (687). Shafiq has the highest 671 points for a Pakistan batsman after six Tests, the last was Saeed Ahmed with 614 points.