{"id":124603,"date":"2026-08-13T00:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/?p=124603"},"modified":"2026-08-13T00:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:25:27","slug":"babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Karachi:<\/strong> The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released its latest men\u2019s player rankings, with Pakistan\u2019s Babar Azam returning to the top 10 Test batters after nearly two years.<\/p>\n<p>Australia\u2019s Travis Head retained the top position in the Test batting rankings, while Babar climbed five places to secure 10th spot.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan\u2019s Saud Shakeel dropped two places to 26th, while Mohammad Rizwan slipped one position to 27th. Abdullah Shafique made a significant leap of 25 places to reach 32nd, while Shan Masood fell three spots to 39th.<\/p>\n<p>In the Test bowling rankings, India\u2019s Jasprit Bumrah retained the number-one position. Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan rose five places to 30th.<\/p>\n<p>India\u2019s Ravindra Jadeja remained the top-ranked Test all-rounder.<\/p>\n<p>In the ODI batting rankings, India\u2019s Shubman Gill retained the top spot, followed by New Zealand\u2019s Daryl Mitchell in second place and India\u2019s Virat Kohli in third.<\/p>\n<p>England\u2019s Joe Root moved up one place to seventh, while Afghanistan\u2019s Rahmanullah Gurbaz climbed three spots to 11th. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi gained four places to reach 50th.<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan\u2019s Rashid Khan remained the top-ranked ODI bowler, with Pakistan\u2019s Abrar Ahmed in second place and England\u2019s Jofra Archer in third.<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan\u2019s Azmatullah Omarzai retained the number-one position in the ODI all-rounder rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Karachi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released its latest men\u2019s player rankings, with Pakistan\u2019s Babar Azam returning to the top 10 Test batters after nearly two years. Australia\u2019s Travis Head retained the top position in the Test batting rankings, while Babar climbed five places [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-sports-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years - Pakistan News International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years - Pakistan News International\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Karachi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released its latest men\u2019s player rankings, with Pakistan\u2019s Babar Azam returning to the top 10 Test batters after nearly two years. Australia\u2019s Travis Head retained the top position in the Test batting rankings, while Babar climbed five places [...]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cricket.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Desk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60cdb6342f08faca39186a3cb9fbda4c\"},\"headline\":\"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T19:25:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":226,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cricket.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/\",\"name\":\"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years - Pakistan News International\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cricket.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T19:25:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cricket.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/cricket.jpg\",\"width\":660,\"height\":360},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/latest-sports-news\\\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pakistan News International\",\"description\":\"Latest News, Breaking News from Pakistan\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pakistan News International\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/site-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/site-logo.jpg\",\"width\":431,\"height\":121,\"caption\":\"Pakistan News International\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60cdb6342f08faca39186a3cb9fbda4c\",\"name\":\"News Desk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34e9ad84679b4a782d4fff9ca3763ebbd7e2cb1b0bb77b91492bba01714a2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34e9ad84679b4a782d4fff9ca3763ebbd7e2cb1b0bb77b91492bba01714a2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/34e9ad84679b4a782d4fff9ca3763ebbd7e2cb1b0bb77b91492bba01714a2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"News Desk\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pni.net.pk\\\/en\\\/author\\\/zafarmalik\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years - Pakistan News International","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years - Pakistan News International","twitter_description":"Karachi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released its latest men\u2019s player rankings, with Pakistan\u2019s Babar Azam returning to the top 10 Test batters after nearly two years. Australia\u2019s Travis Head retained the top position in the Test batting rankings, while Babar climbed five places [...]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cricket.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Desk","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/"},"author":{"name":"News Desk","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/60cdb6342f08faca39186a3cb9fbda4c"},"headline":"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years","datePublished":"2026-08-12T19:25:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/"},"wordCount":226,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cricket.jpg","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/","name":"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years - Pakistan News International","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cricket.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-12T19:25:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cricket.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cricket.jpg","width":660,"height":360},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/latest-sports-news\/babar-azam-returns-to-icc-test-batting-top-10-after-two-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Babar Azam Returns to ICC Test Batting Top 10 After Two Years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/","name":"Pakistan News International","description":"Latest News, Breaking News from Pakistan","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#organization","name":"Pakistan News International","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/site-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/site-logo.jpg","width":431,"height":121,"caption":"Pakistan News International"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/60cdb6342f08faca39186a3cb9fbda4c","name":"News Desk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e9ad84679b4a782d4fff9ca3763ebbd7e2cb1b0bb77b91492bba01714a2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e9ad84679b4a782d4fff9ca3763ebbd7e2cb1b0bb77b91492bba01714a2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e9ad84679b4a782d4fff9ca3763ebbd7e2cb1b0bb77b91492bba01714a2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"News Desk"},"url":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/author\/zafarmalik\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124605,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124603\/revisions\/124605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pni.net.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}