Pakistan captain Babar Azam will enter the ODI World Cup 2023 as the World No 1 batter. But he will be vary of India's rising star Shubman Gill who is in touching distance. Gill needed just 30 or more runs to topple Babar from the topspot. But he was rested for the third ODI vs Australia after scoring a fifty and hundred in the first two matches, hence missing out on the chance to dethrone Babar.


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Shubman scored 178 runs in the two ODIs vs Australia. He had scored a quickfire 74 in the first ODI followed by 104 in the second match. Gill would be eyeing the top rank in the World Cup. Thanks to his good show in the recent matches, Gill has got the career-high rating in the batters rankings. 


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Gill now has a total of 847 rating points and is just 10 rating points behind Babar (857), ahead of the start of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup on October 5. Babar did not play in any cricket tournament after the Pakistanis were knocked out of the Asia Cup 2023. That give Shubman the advantage and the chance to topple Babar at the top. He needed to score 200 or more runs in the three ODIs vs Australia. He ended up making 178 in 2 ODIs but was then rested for the third match. 


We are going to see a neck and neck battle between Babar and Shubman throughout the six weeks of the World Cup. These two are far away from the other challengers in the batters list. On third is South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen, who has 743 ratings. Imam'ul-Haq of Pakistan is on fifth spot with 728 while Harry Tector is on fourth with 729.



After hitting hundred in the third ODI, Shubman had said that he was satisfied with the performance and wanted to take the form into the World Cup. He also said that his six hit against Cameron Green was the best shot he played in the innings. "With the way KL and Surya played, they kept the momentum going. A taget of 400 was going to be difficult on any surface, and the bowlers came out and did their job. I think the six against Green down the ground, it was really special for me," Shubman had said after the match.