Imam-ul-Haq goes ahead of Virat Kohli to claim the 2nd spot in ICC ODI Rankings

Imam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s stylish left-handed opener, has bagged the second spot in the ICC’s Ranking Lists of men batters. The Ranking lists released on 15th June displayed that the Top 2 spots in both the T20Is and the ODIs are held by Pakistan batters, respectively.

Imam climbed to the second spot after scoring 65, 72, and 62 in the ODIs against the West Indies, where he was also announced as the Player of the Series. Imam now sits just one spot beside his skipper Babar Azam, who occupies the first rank in the 50-over format’s ranking. 

Meanwhile, the latest ICC ranking has also headlined India’s former skipper, Virat Kohli, who himself is going through a bit of a slump. Kohli’s recent drop in form in ODIs and T20Is is as extraordinary as a black-swan event. 

The Chasemaster’s post-pandemic scores and statistics have been rather sub-par for a player of his calibre. As expected by most that the slump in Kohli’s form will only last for a short while, this has surely helped Imam to go past him in the ODI rankings, thanks to his consistent performances in the recent past.

Nevertheless, this is only the first-ever instance of Pakistan batters grabbing the top two positions in the ODI rankings. Babar Azam holds the top spot with 892 rating points. Imam managed to place himself in the second rank with 815 points.

In the T20Is, Pakistan master Babar is at the helm of the rankings, and Mohammed Rizwan stands second with 794 points. However, Rizwan gained a few points and climbed one position above his earlier one to create a record for his nation.