ICC Test Rankings | Babar Azam slips to 9th following golden duck; Pant breaks into Top 6

Pakistan registered a handsome victory over Zimbabwe at Harare last week, but, on a personal note, things have gone from bad to worse for skipper Babar Azam as the right-hander has slipped to 9th position in the latest ICC rankings. Babar, who entered the first Test as the sixth-ranked batsman in the world, came on the back of scores of 7, 30, 77 and 8 versus South Africa and was in need of a big score versus Zimbabwe to bolster his rating points.

However, a golden duck has seen the Pakistan skipper slip three spots to 9th, with 736 rating points. He is only marginally ahead of the 10th-placed David Warner, who is 12 points behind the 26-year-old. Babar’s slump, however, has ensured a career-high ranking for India’s Rishabh Pant as the wicket-keeper batsman has now moved to 6th in the rankings. With 747 points to his name, Pant is joint sixth in the rankings and is level on points with teammate Rohit Sharma and New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls. The trio, next month, will be featuring in the World Test Championship Final in England.

Kane Williamson (919) has retained the top spot, and he is followed by Steve Smith (891), Marnus Labuschagne (878), Joe Root (831) and Virat Kohli (814). Barring the Top 10, a significant mover in the table is Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, whose stellar showing in the Bangladesh series has seen him move to 11th spot in the rankings, just 12 points behind Warner. 

Lack of Test cricket, owing to the IPL, has meant that there have been no changes in the Top 10 of both the bowler’s and all-rounder’s rankings. The Top 20 of the all-rounder’s rankings has, in fact, remained intact, while when it comes to the bowlers, Mohammad Abbas has slipped to the 14th spot after having missed Pakistan’s first Test versus Zimbabwe.