ISLAMABAD: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam now ranks higher than India’s Virat Kohli in the ICC batters’ rankings across all three formats of cricket, ODI, T20I and Tests.
Cricket fans have always loved to compare Azam with Kohli, especially after the former gave stellar performances over the past couple of years and has come to be widely regarded as one of the best contemporary batters in the world. Kohli too is often considered one of the best cricket players in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Azam’s Pakistan thumped India by 10 wickets in the highly anticipated clash between the two sides on October 24 during the ICC T20 World Cup 2020. Azam and Kohli had both scored half-centuries in the match.
In the ICC ODI batting rankings, the Pakistani captain is the world’s best batsman currently, ranked at number one with 873 points. Kohli follows Azam at number two, with 844 points under his belt.
In the ICC T20I batting rankings, Babar Azam and England’s Dawid Malan occupy the number one spot jointly with 805 points to their credit. Kohli, on the other hand, fails to make the cut even in the top 10 and is placed at number 11 in the list with 657 points.
As per the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, Babar Azam is ranked number 8 on the list with 750 points, while Kohli, who was previously a place higher above Babar Azam at number 7, has slipped two places below and is now at number 9 on the rankings table, with 747 points.
Kohli’s fall to number 9 on the table can be attributed to his dismal performance against South Africa in the Centurion Test where India’s former ODI and T20I captain scored only 53 runs against the Proteas at an average of 26.50.
Babar Azam outranks Kohli in batting in all three formats — ICC rankings
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Babar Azam outranks Kohli in batting in all three formats — ICC rankings
- Babar Azam occupies number 1 spot in both T20I and ODI batting rankings currently
- Kohli occupies 9th place in Test batting rankings while Babar Azam is at number 8
Pakistani stocks lose over 6,000 points due to heavy selling, regional tensions
- KSE-100 index fell 6042.26 points or by 3.21 percent to close at 182,338.12 points, Pakistan Stock Exchange data states
- Analysts say heavy selling triggered by Fauji Fertilizer Company’s earnings announcement, which fell short of expectations
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw a massive drop of over 6,000 points on Thursday, which financial analysts attributed to heavy selling in the market and geopolitical tensions between Iran and the US.
The KSE-100 index fell by 6042.26 points or 3.21 percent to close at 182,338.12 on Thursday evening, the PSX data showed, down from the previous close of 188,380.38 points.
The development took place as US President Donald Trump warned Iran this week that “time is running out” for the nation to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program, following the steady build-up of US military forces in the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Pakistani brokerage firm Topline Securities said equities witnessed a sharp sell-off in the stock market on Thursday, causing Pakistani stocks to plunge into a “severe downturn.”
“The steep decline was largely driven by Fauji Fertilizer Company’s (FFC) earnings announcement, which fell short of market expectations due to weaker-than-anticipated gross margins,” Topline Security’s Senior Equity Trader Naveed Nadeem said.
Nadeem noted that the FFC, United Bank Limited (UBL), Engro Corporation (ENGROH), Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC), and Hub Power Company (HUBC) collectively shaved 3,155 points off the benchmark index during the session.
Najeed Warsi, chief business officer at Al Habib Capital Markets, agreed.
“FFC’s [Fauji Fertilizer Company] below-expectation results didn’t help, triggering a sell-off,” he added.
Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities, said geopolitical tensions between Washington and Tehran triggered the selling activity as well as the central bank’s recent decision to keep policy rate unchanged.
“Geopolitical uncertainty and SBP [State Bank of Pakistan] status quo in the policy rates projecting high inflation played a catalyst role in selling activity at PSX,” he said.
Pakistan’s central bank held its key policy rate unchanged at 10.50 percent on Monday, defying market expectations for further easing.
