Babar or Rizwan: Who will top rankings this time?

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan is one of the most popular opening pair in cricket and have just achieved a new milestone of the most 50+ partnerships in a match against New Zealand.

Each of the star players has been on the top of the T20Is ranking charts, while currently Babar holds the third spot and Rizwan in the second position.

When asked who will rise to the top slot in the rankings next, Rizwan said what mattered more than him or his partner being no. 1 was the Men in Green becoming the no. 1 team in the world.

“We have never seen these things individually,” the right-handed batter said while speaking to Geo after Saturday's match.

He said that their focus is on benefiting Pakistan as a team quoting former assistant head coach, Shahid Aslam as saying in a PCB meeting that “we have to become world no 1.”

He said that this vision is involved in every series and they will follow it while moving forward.

Rizwan further stated that he and Babar try to rotate the strike rate.

"We trust each other a lot and we never shy away from losing our wicket for each other," he said.

Rizwan had broken his captain's 1,000-day streak of staying at the top of the T20I ranking when he dethroned him last year in September. Before him, Babar had been holding the number 1 spot for 1,155 days, but his long-lasting reign ended after an ordinary Asia Cup in 2022.

Meanwhile, Rizwan could hold the slot for two months as India's Suryakumar Yadav toppled the former to become the top batter in T20I cricket in November. The cricketer has retained the position till date.