Can Babar Azam replace Virat Kohli to claim the #1 position in ODI rankings?

[TheNightWatchman]

Kohli is Kohli. His ability to take away the game from the opposition is unparalleled. Same with Sharma but I feel Kohli is just much much much more clutch than Sharma. Don't think Babar has the same capability to take the game away. Great player and run accumulator though, only seen 1 innings where he took charge which was NZ 2019 which atleast shows that he is capable of that clutch innings

But then i can name atleast 10-15 times Kohli has that same clutch type innings like Babar did against NZ. Still young in his career though. I'll give him time

[TheNightWatchman]

Babar pretty much had a forgettable 2019 WC. He didn't do bad. He just underperformed considering his standards and when the team needed him most. IF he fires in the T20 WC this year then yes the comparisons would atleast be more apt.

[Mamoon]

** kr de yar, you keep changing the goal posts, In the first 8,9 matches kohli averaged so rubbish vs Pak even including that one inning in which he scored double than other 8 inns combined, and babar has better average in of 31 than that, now maybe you have crystal ball which told you babar will never turn around his record vs India and will never score fifties or hundreds than that s another thing, but by pure numbers your biased agenda is there for everyone to see, Your Lord kohli could improve his 29 average to 48 currently vs Pak, but you know for sure babar never will. And one more factor is by all metrics Indian bowling attack is now better than pak bowling attacks which kohli had to face throughout his career, but no never let facts distract you away from your agenda.

I have not changed any goal posts. You are the one crying and doing aye, baye, shayen because you cannot accept the reality that so far, Babar has been a complete flop against India.

I am not saying anything about the future; all I am saying is that Babar has been a big flop vs India so far over 5 matches spread over 4 years. I don’t see why it is so hard for our fans to admit.

The only thing I will say about the future is that Babar will never play an innings like the one Kohli did vs Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup.

Don’t give me this rubbish that he played weak attacks. He has made Ajmal cry on numerous occasions when Ajmal was at the peak of his chucking powers from 2012-2014, and that version of Ajmal was better than the Indian spinners that Babar has failed against.

Here is a fact: Babar is not and will not be comparable to Kohli because Kohli is more talented, more skilled, has more guts and greater ability to play match-defining innings.

Even if Kohli retires today and Babar plays for another 15 years, he will not be able to match Kohli’s ODI career.

[Mamoon]

Exactly. THE GREAT KOHLI ALSO HAD FAILURES AGAINST A NOBODY LIKE JUNAID. And here unare derailing babar because he was not able to perform in a few matched against india that too not in a bilateralls and no home advantage too.

Forgot to add:

Please don’t use this home advantage excuse. We saw Babar’s home advantage few months back when he was clueless against Maharaj.

Imagine what Ashwin and Jadeja would do to him on Pakistani pitches in Test cricket.

Babar has so far flopped big time against India; Babar will never surpass Kohli.

Both are undeniable facts.

[TheNightWatchman]

To be fair
Virat has 254 ODI caps. Babar has 80.
The comparison is unfair and doesn't make any sense.
We couldn't compare Kohli to Tendulkar after he had played just 80 ODIs ??

[PakPremi]

Forgot to add:

Please don’t use this home advantage excuse. We saw Babar’s home advantage few months back when he was clueless against Maharaj.

Imagine what Ashwin and Jadeja would do to him on Pakistani pitches in Test cricket.

Babar has so far flopped big time against India; Babar will never surpass Kohli.

Both are undeniable facts.

Babar came back after long period off due to injury and so was rusty, he was scratchy agi St all bowlers. He had no problem with Maharaj in current series in SA.

[PakPremi]

Why would anyone compare Kohli with Babar. There is no doubt Kohli is a much better batsman overall.

[TheNightWatchman]

I don't understand how when or why the comparisons started. I think people just got excited after seeing a world class Pakistani batsman after a really long time and see him accumulating runs fast and breaking records so they went overboard and started comparing him to the best batsman of this generation and one of the best of all time. lol. Long long long way to go before the 2 can be compared

[zarak]

Why would anyone compare Kohli with Babar. There is no doubt Kohli is a much better batsman overall.

There are no comparisons. Kohli is a way better bat. But it Is nice to know that we have someone in a similar bracket who may become as good

[TheNightWatchman]

Forgot to add:

Please don’t use this home advantage excuse. We saw Babar’s home advantage few months back when he was clueless against Maharaj.

Imagine what Ashwin and Jadeja would do to him on Pakistani pitches in Test cricket.

Babar has so far flopped big time against India; Babar will never surpass Kohli.

Both are undeniable facts.

Why do you think Babar has peaked and he can't get any better. What if he gets mountains of runs in the next few seasons/tournaments? Is it not a possibility to you or do you just firmly believe Babar isn't good enough and will stay the same.

[Mirpur express]

He really is a better batsman than Kohli at the moment.

sorry India fans and anti Pakistan agents

Try telling that to the agent in chief.. Mamoon 😂😂

[Mamoon]

Why do you think Babar has peaked and he can't get any better. What if he gets mountains of runs in the next few seasons/tournaments? Is it not a possibility to you or do you just firmly believe Babar isn't good enough and will stay the same.

I am sure Babar’s best across formats is yet to come, but I would say that he only has about 1% chance of eclipsing Kohli as a batsman.

Kohli is a great among the greats. He is in the league of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Viv Richards etc. and absolute icon and superstar of the game. He is the face of modern cricket.

I don’t think Babar will ever reach that category. He will probably end up in the league of players like Amla, Williamson, Root etc.

Babar can become the greatest Pakistani batsman of all time which is obviously a great achievement even though the bar is low.

[Sir-fraz]

Try telling that to the agent in chief.. Mamoon ����

Momemt doesnt matter, its about peaks. And kohli has had probably the greatest peak in LOIs.

Even in his first 77 games kohli had plaued like 8 or impactful innings while babar has only had one. Wc nzl 100 thats it.

3rd odi vs sa was lost if hassan didnt come in and smash 30 quick runs. Babar had a great chance to come in and put his foot on the gane. But he jyst dame to accumulate runs.

He dudnt come to dominate, which resulted in pakistan losing their dominate position in the game.

After fakhar got out All babar had to do was get a 4 every over, instead he went into a shell and kept asking unsettled batsmen who dont have the ability to hit big, to hit big..

While it was on babar to release the built up pressure from fakhar wicket. He knows what he has on offer because he chose the 11 according to him.

[MHN1293]

I am sure Babar’s best across formats is yet to come, but I would say that he only has about 1% chance of eclipsing Kohli as a batsman.

Kohli is a great among the greats. He is in the league of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Viv Richards etc. and absolute icon and superstar of the game. He is the face of modern cricket.

I don’t think Babar will ever reach that category. He will probably end up in the league of players like Amla, Williamson, Root etc.

Babar can become the greatest Pakistani batsman of all time which is obviously a great achievement even though the bar is low.

Babar stats wise is on the trajectory of kohli and impact wise in the same league as root williamson. Even if he never eclipses kohli, we still have a great batsmen on our hands. Below kohli rohit sachin viv but on a path to eclipse amla root williamson.

[Sir-fraz]

Babar stats wise is on the trajectory of kohli and impact wise in the same league as root williamson. Even if he never eclipses kohli, we still have a great batsmen on our hands. Below kohli rohit sachin viv but on a path to eclipse amla root williamson.

Yea he'll still be a great player. But to be the GOAT you gotta have stats and impact.

Cant just have stats

[CaptainIce]

Ranking become meaningless whenever a Pakistanis goes to no 1 position. Scoring an 82 ball 94 is not even slow. Kohli has scored a number of run a ball 50s in similar situations. Even when no wickets are falling around. I guess its hard for a lot of people to digest the fact that Babar is now no 1 in ODI cricket.
Lastly Amla never had a good WC in his life and dont think he can even play a 82 ball 94 like innings

I couldn't agree more mate

What we now need is to beat higher ranking teams. Just gutted that we didn't beat SA 3/0 and move up the rankings

[ChTab]

Been watching everywhere that Babar has claimed the #1 position in ODI rankings but the ICC website is showing Kohli still at the top, is it because ICC hasn't updated the rankings or Babar is still #2?

[TheNightWatchman]

I am sure Babar’s best across formats is yet to come, but I would say that he only has about 1% chance of eclipsing Kohli as a batsman.

Kohli is a great among the greats. He is in the league of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Viv Richards etc. and absolute icon and superstar of the game. He is the face of modern cricket.

I don’t think Babar will ever reach that category. He will probably end up in the league of players like Amla, Williamson, Root etc.

Babar can become the greatest Pakistani batsman of all time which is obviously a great achievement even though the bar is low.

I think he has the potential to be better than Amla, Root type. He just needs to learn to pick up more responsibility if he wants to improve. He needs to learn to carry this team with a batting line up as fragile as this. And by carry I mean really carry. He needs to hit those Desert Storm innings types instead of settling for a 50 odd which won't disrupt his average or worry about his placement in the team.

[Adnan_Ilyas]

Babar still at number two whats going on?

[TheNightWatchman]

Babar still at number two whats going on?

BCCI conspiracy. Don't you know?

[Ab Fan]

I am sure Babar’s best across formats is yet to come, but I would say that he only has about 1% chance of eclipsing Kohli as a batsman.

Kohli is a great among the greats. He is in the league of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Viv Richards etc. and absolute icon and superstar of the game. He is the face of modern cricket.

I don’t think Babar will ever reach that category. He will probably end up in the league of players like Amla, Williamson, Root etc.

Babar can become the greatest Pakistani batsman of all time which is obviously a great achievement even though the bar is low.

Miandad is certainly a level superior to the likes of Amla, Williamson or Root so if Babar ends at the level of those guys, he won't become greatest Pakistani batsman of all-time. He will have to do more than that.

[Mamoon]

Miandad is certainly a level superior to the likes of Amla, Williamson or Root so if Babar ends at the level of those guys, he won't become greatest Pakistani batsman of all-time. He will have to do more than that.

I won’t say Miandad is a level above. He benefited from biased home umpiring.

Amla, Root and Williamson would average at least 5 points higher if they had the luxury of not getting LBW’d at home for over a decade and kept getting the benefit of doubt in every close call.

[avihash]

Babar Azam is the first no.1 ranked player that absolutely no team fears (except zim maybe).

Teams might secretly be wishing for him to not get out and play full 50 overs, the final target would be around 270-80 which is terribly below par in today’s age.

[Ab Fan]

I won’t say Miandad is a level above. He benefited from biased home umpiring.

Amla, Root and Williamson would average at least 5 points higher if they had the luxury of not getting LBW’d at home for over a decade and kept getting the benefit of doubt in every close call.

I would still consider Miandad as a better bat than Amla, Root and Williamson. Remember, he played in the era of 80s against a number of world class bowlers without helmets, protective gears and is one of the few Pakistani batsman to succeed across most conditions and probably the only one to average 50+ all his career. He was the batting leader of a strong Pakistan side who were second best team of that era.

He is in the league of Border, Dravid, Sangakkara and Kallis( the batsman) which means he is certainly better than Amla and going by trajectory should remain ahead of Williamson and Root too.

[Mamoon]

I would still consider Miandad as a better bat than Amla, Root and Williamson. Remember, he played in the era of 80s against a number of world class bowlers without helmets, protective gears and is one of the few Pakistani batsman to succeed across most conditions and probably the only one to average 50+ all his career. He was the batting leader of a strong Pakistan side who were second best team of that era.

He is in the league of Border, Dravid, Sangakkara and Kallis( the batsman) which means he is certainly better than Amla and going by trajectory should remain ahead of Williamson and Root too.

Amla, Root and Williamson have all faced great bowlers and they have faced greater spinners than Miandad did.

1979-1991 was the worst era of spin bowling. Between the retirement/decline of the Indian quartet and the emergence of Warne, Kumble and Muralitharan, spin-bowling talent was at an all-time low.

Abdul Qadir was the only elite spinner in international cricket and he was playing in Miandad’s team.

[MenInG]

ICC taking their sweet time in announcing this?

Very odd and uncalled for.

[TheNightWatchman]

ICC taking their sweet time in announcing this?

Very odd and uncalled for.

Or maybe he hasn't displaced Kohli yet?

[MenInG]

Or maybe he hasn't displaced Kohli yet?

Very true! but seems he did enough to do that.

Also

Its customary for ICC to update the rankings at end of series - they do it very quickly at other times.

Currently:

[MHN1293]

So probably this wednesday.

[jeeteshssaxena]

Virat will play only 3 more odis in this year while Babar has to play 12 more i think, looks like Babar will be at no. 1 for quite some time.

[trajo]

Very true! but seems he did enough to do that.

Also

Its customary for ICC to update the rankings at end of series - they do it very quickly at other times.

Currently:

They seem to update it when they like it.
Updated on 4th April which was a Sunday (Not the Wednesday they were say on website they do updates player updates for men)

Interestingly the day before Babar was number 1.

[ethan hunt]

Pakistans finest batsman in ages is from a private school in lahore. The lords international school.
Further weight to the argument that batting is different from fast bowling and we really need better facilities and coaching to develop batsmen.

[shamaan]

No.1 batsman in the world. . Powered by Zimbabwe , wi and sa c team. . Amazing

C team that consists of rabada,nigidi,Nortje,shami defonitely a C team

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Lol at your comprehension skills; unsurprisingly they are at the same level as your cricketing iq.

On a cricketing note, more power to zimbabar. Someone has to score against minnows, it’s not going to happen on its own.

Ulta chor kotwal ko daante? Your cricketing IQ and jealousy is quite evident here. You are indirectly making fun of ICC rankings by bringing in Zim, SL and WI sides here. I mean you should be the last one to cry here since you were jumping up and down when likes of Pandya were smashing bowlers like Swepson and Tye in Australia. Didn't see you crying then? I wonder why?

[Mobashir]

Babar Azam is the first no.1 ranked player that absolutely no team fears (except zim maybe).

Teams might secretly be wishing for him to not get out and play full 50 overs, the final target would be around 270-80 which is terribly below par in today’s age.

Nice hate. You have what it takes to become a great hater.

I didn't knew there was so much jealousy going around in the Indian circles because I know many Indians who appreciate him as a player.

[shamaan]

By the way, Babar has done incredibly well to reach the spot but now onto the tougher part of holding on to it for a worthwhile duration.

Or else he'd just end up as a forgotten no.1 like Misbah's Pakistan...

Babar has alot of odis to come up and i think india hasnt got any planned correct me if am wrong

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Nice hate. You have what it takes to become a great hater.

I didn't knew there was so much jealousy going around in the Indian circles because I know many Indians who appreciate him as a player.

Rankings like these actually tell who is a real cricket fan.

[Mobashir]

Babar has alot of odis to come up and i think india hasnt got any planned correct me if am wrong

More ODI'S doesn't necessarily means more points. If you don't play at a high level, your ranking drops.

The form Kohli is in would have actually served Babar had he played more matches.

[shamaan]

Congrats to babar for reaching number 1.a notch above Williamson and Root but slighly below kohli.

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Babar has alot of odis to come up and think india hasnt got any planned correct me if am wrong

It seems he is going to stay there for quite sometime.

[avihash]

Nice hate. You have what it takes to become a great hater.

I didn't knew there was so much jealousy going around in the Indian circles because I know many Indians who appreciate him as a player.

I am sorry to burst your bubble but there’s nothing really to hate here. There will always be players who make an impact and strike fear in the opposition and then there will be ones who accumulate against minnows or depleted sides. It’s for the fans to decide whom they adore.

David malan is the no.1 ranked t20 player, and yet there are a multitude of players that fans would rank ahead of him. Does it mean we hate him ? Heck no. That would be delusional thinking.

[Saj]

Nothing official yet from ICC.

Taking their time to send the update

[Bilal7]

The rankings are going to update this Wednesday. The mods are going to work overtime keeping this place from becoming an asylum once that happens.

[Bilal7]

I would still consider Miandad as a better bat than Amla, Root and Williamson. Remember, he played in the era of 80s against a number of world class bowlers without helmets, protective gears and is one of the few Pakistani batsman to succeed across most conditions and probably the only one to average 50+ all his career. He was the batting leader of a strong Pakistan side who were second best team of that era.

He is in the league of Border, Dravid, Sangakkara and Kallis( the batsman) which means he is certainly better than Amla and going by trajectory should remain ahead of Williamson and Root too.

Across formats, Amla is a class above any batsman produced by Pakistan.

[globalcitizen]

Congratulations to Babar and entire Pakistani fans. #1 is a very well deserved tag and shows the consistency of batsman.
the tag was not going to be with Kohli always and had to change at some time. It's a testament to his drive that he was #1 for so long.

I think for once Indian and Pakistan fans should applaud of something deserving.

Word of caution though, international cricket now has stars all over the place and Babar will be looking back always feel that pinch of competition . And surely it's theatrics when you call its Babar era it's not yet

[Hyder]

You are missing the point. Kohli failed against Junaid in that series but he has also thrashed Pakistan on numerous occasions.

On the other hand, Babar does not have a single quality innings against India. He has played them 5 times and failed on all 5 occasions. It is a fact that cannot be changed with whining.

Our fans can make excuses about he has only played India 5 times etc., but as long as he doesn’t perform against India, his awful record against India, especially for someone of his caliber, will continue to be highlighted.

Then same can be said about Kohli in KO. Can we? Surely someone 8f his calibre must have produced somee good while a vastly mediocre smith thrased his team. Mind you he has also played about 5 KO matches.

[Zeshan547]

Then same can be said about Kohli in KO. Can we? Surely someone 8f his calibre must have produced somee good while a vastly mediocre smith thrased his team. Mind you he has also played about 5 KO matches.

All his vitriol is based on grand total of 5 random matches, and scoring against India is the sole criteria of greatness and its 100% guaranteed that Babar will never score in future as well vs India because PP k 2 takay k Nostradomus na keh dia isliye. Koi sharm hoti koi haya hoti hai, baat krnay ke b koi adaa (logic) hoti hai. I think iska qasoor nai, life would be so bland without a devil's advocate, he just love to play that role. And like the his master himself he will never change his stance.

[MHN1293]

I am sorry to burst your bubble but there’s nothing really to hate here. There will always be players who make an impact and strike fear in the opposition and then there will be ones who accumulate against minnows or depleted sides. It’s for the fans to decide whom they adore.

David malan is the no.1 ranked t20 player, and yet there are a multitude of players that fans would rank ahead of him. Does it mean we hate him ? Heck no. That would be delusional thinking.

Babar dosent belong in the strike fear in the opposition group neither the minnow bashing group.

[Bigboii]

@zeshan457

You just wasted your time by copy-pasting numbers from Cricinfo when I remember each and every innings Kohli has played in his career against Pakistan.

Kohli has destroyed Pakistan enough in his career across both ODIs and T20Is, and we are lucky we haven’t played him in Tests yet otherwise his average and number of hundreds would have been higher today.

Sure he has had a few failures against Pakistan such as the 2011 World Cup and CT SF and the 2012-13 series, but he has broken enough Pakistani hearts over the years and has nothing to prove against Pakistan.

On the other hand, Babar has been a total failure against India and unless he delivers a few iconic innings, he cannot be praised for imaginary performances.

Babar is obviously not capable of delivering an innings like Kohli’s 183 in the 2012 Asia Cup, but even a regular century against India would do.

It would be harsh to expect him to perform like someone who is in a different league, but he should be able to perform against India as per his own standards, which he hasn’t been able to do so far.

Well left didn't even respond to the guy...

[Babar_Azam_fan]

And he does, that didn't take long

Congratulations