Shubman Gill has become the new number 1 ranked ODI batter in the latest edition of the ICC rankings announced on Wednesday. Gill dethroned Babar Azam and became the new world number 1 in ODIs, a day before India began their Champions Trophy 2025 journey. Gill repeated his heroics from the 2023 ODI World Cup when he surpassed Babar mid-way through the mega event in India. The development comes five days ahead of the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan fixture on 23 February. In the ODI bowlers' rankings, Maheesh Theekshana replaced tweaker Rashid Khan at the top of the pile. Shubman Gill takes over the crown from Babar Azam The Indian vice-captain for the Champions Trophy has been in a rich vein of form, his century in the third ODI against England helped India clean-sweep the visitors. Shubman rose to the spot, while Babar dropped to second place with 23 rating points behind the new No.1. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, fresh after hitting a century in the second ODI, is sitting comfortably in third place. India's Shreyas Iyer rose one spot, he sits in ninth place in the ODI batsmen's rankings. India to face Bangladesh in Champions Trophy opener Gill has been in red-hot form during the build-up to the Champions Trophy 2025. He scored 87 runs from 96 balls in the series opener played at VCA Stadium in Nagpur on February 6, and in the second match at Cuttack's Barabati Stadium, he slammed 60 runs from 52 balls. The 25-year-old scored 112 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the series finale. Meanwhile, the Indian team will face Bangladesh on 20 February to kick-start their Champions Trophy campaign. The Men in Blue will face Pakistan on 23rd, followed by a meeting against New Zealand on 2 March to conclude the group-stage.Original Article