Babar Azam will continue to lead Pakistan until the World Cup.

After a great set of one-day internationals (ODIs) against New Zealand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to keep Babar Azam as captain of the national team, sources told Geo News Saturday.

“Babar Azam will stay as captain until the World Cup in October. After the current captain led the Green Shirts to the top of the ODI rankings, sources said that PCB would soon make a statement about this.

After beating New Zealand easily in the fourth ODI on Friday in Karachi, Pakistan moved to the top of the ICC ODI rankings for the first time since the ICC started keeping official team rankings in 2005.

With 113.483 rating points, Babar’s team is now at the top of the list of ODI teams. Australia is second with 113.286 rating points, and India is third with 112.638 rating points. They’ll be even more sure of their spot if they win the 5th ODI and sweep the series.

In an interview in March, the captain said that this year’s ICC World Cup in India is his main goal.

“We are focused on the World Cup in India and will try to put on a good show during the tournament,” Azam told Geo News.

Mickey Arthur, who is in charge of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, told the PCB that the Green Shirts can win the upcoming ICC World Cup if Babar stays as captain until then.

In October and November of this year, India will host the Cricket World Cup. In 2023, Pakistan will hold the Asia Cup.