Babar Azam drops out of top 10 in latest ICC Test batting rankings after horror show versus Bangladesh

Babar Azam. (Source – Twitter/X)

Babar Azam has been going through a rather long lean patch in Test cricket and his recent debacle in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh saw him dropping out of the top 10 in the ICC Test rankings for batters.

The right-handed batter could only register scores of 0, 22, 31, and 11 in the four innings he played against Bangladesh. Babar’s lack of runs hurt Pakistan badly as the Asian giants suffered a 0-2 whitewash in Rawalpindi. The 29-year-old has slipped to the 12th position after dropping down by three places. He has a rating of 712 points. Babar hasn’t managed to score a half-century in his last 16 Test innings and his highest score in this period is just 41.

Besides, Mohammad Rizwan finds himself as the best-rated Pakistani batter in the rankings. He is positioned at No. 10 in the rankings. Rizwan finished the series against Bangladesh as the highest run-getter, amassing 294 runs from four innings at an average of 98.

Meanwhile, the Indian troika of Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli have held onto their rankings – sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. They will have a chance to improve their rankings with solid performances during the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh, starting with the first encounter on September 19.

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Can Joe Root eclipse Don Bradman’s all-time record this English summer?

Joe Root has been in exemplary form in the ongoing three-match Test series between England and Sri Lanka. The former captain is the leading run-getter by a distance, having slammed 350 runs from four innings at a staggering average of 116.67. He scored centuries in both innings of the second Test at Lord’s to go past Alastair Cook’s tally of most centuries by an England batter in Tests.

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Root is the top-ranked batter, having 922 ratings, only one behind his career-best haul of 923, which he achieved in July 2022. If the 33-year-old can continue his red-hot form, he could better Don Bradman’s all-time best rating point in Tests (961). England will play the third and final Test match against Sri Lanka, starting on Friday, September 6, at the Kennington Oval in London.