Dubai, 12 August 2026:
Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam has returned to the top 10 of the ICC men’s Test batting rankings after nearly two years, following a strong performance in Pakistan’s eight-wicket win over the West Indies in Port of Spain.
Babar scored 88 in the first innings and an unbeaten 24 in the second, climbing five places to No. 10 in the latest rankings. The 31-year-old had dropped out of the top 10 in September 2024 after spending five consecutive years among the world’s leading Test batters.
His career-best ranking of No. 2 came during Pakistan’s home Test series against England in December 2022.
Babar has now scored 4,674 runs in 64 Tests and 118 innings at an average of 43.68. He has nine centuries and 33 half-centuries, with a highest score of 196. His latest 88 again left him short of a 10th Test hundred.
Former Pakistan Test cricketer and former Pakistan Cricket Board National Cricket Academy director Mudassar Nazar believes Babar remains central to Pakistan’s Test ambitions and needs to convert promising starts into decisive innings.
“My prayers are for him to score a century,” Nazar told Criczone.com.au in an exclusive interview. “And he will score a long century. He has the pedigree to score a century.”
Nazar said converting half-centuries into hundreds is one of the differences between good players and the greats, while stressing that Babar has the technique and quality to succeed in demanding conditions.
“If Babar scores two centuries in three matches, then Pakistan will win for sure,” Nazar said. “I think he has all the ingredients.”
Nazar also acknowledged the intense expectations surrounding Babar in Pakistan, where even substantial contributions can attract criticism if they are not converted into three-figure scores.
Babar’s return to the top 10 was one of Pakistan’s main gains in the latest ICC update. Abdullah Shafique also climbed 25 places to No. 32 after unbeaten scores of 160 and 24 in Port of Spain.
For Babar, however, the rankings rise underlines his renewed consistency as Pakistan looks to its premier batter to turn starts into match-shaping hundreds in future Test series starting with three-match series against England from 19 August.
