Babar’s remarkable form had helped him replace Indian captain Virat Kohli at the top of the men’s ODI player rankings last week and this week’s T20I update sees him make a strong 47-point jump to overtake Australia’s Aaron Finch in the T20I rankings after scoring 122 in the third match.
The right-handed Lahore-born batsman is in sublime form these days, as he struck his maiden T20I hundred in Pakistan’s nine-wicket win over South Africa on April 14th.
Babar’s captaincy has been on a constant improvement since last year’s series against Bangladesh. Pakistan has won four T20I series besides the draw against England. They are yet to lose a single T20 series.
Though Babar is still 48 points adrift of top-ranked Dawid Malan of England, a three-match series against Zimbabwe from Wednesday presents the 26-year-old with another opportunity to move towards the top spot, which he had occupied till November last year.
Pakistan go into the series having won all five bilateral T20I series against Zimbabwe and have won all 14 T20Is.
The Asian team last visited Zimbabwe in July 2018, to feature in a tri-nation tournament involving Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Australia. Pakistan beat Australia by six wickets on July 8 at the Harare Sports Club to win the tournament.
