Babar Azam becomes Pakistan’s leading ODI centurion after breaking a 2-year drought

Babar Azam took 84 innings to end his century slump - an exact number of innings that even Virat Kohli took in his century drought from 2019 to 2022.

Babar Azam walked out today with two years of noise on his shoulders and walked back with a record that will follow him much longer than the drought ever did. The Pakistan captain ended an 807-day wait for an international hundred and became the country’s leading ODI centurion, drawing level with Saeed Anwar with as many as 20 one-day international hundreds.

His 151 off 131 balls carried Pakistan to an eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka and wrapped up the ODI series with a match left. For someone who had gone 807 days and 84 international innings without a century, this one felt heavier than most and his celebration said it all too.

Babar Azam writes history books in ODIs

Babar Azam, who recently became the leading run-getter in T20I history (overall), is dynamite in one-day cricket. His game is tailor-made for the format, where he can take calculated risks and pace the innings as per the situation. Babar now has 20 ODI hundreds and has joined Saeed Anwar at the top of Pakistan’s all-time list. He sits above Anwar on efficiency, reaching the mark in just 136 innings compared to Anwar’s 244.

He has also equalled Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez for the second most ODI tons against Sri Lanka with four. His average against them is close to 60, which explains why he keeps finding runs whenever they tour Pakistan. This was also his eighth ODI century at home, giving him the most home hundreds by any Pakistan batter. He went past Mohammad Yousuf’s previous tally of seven. In fact, the last 11 of Babar’s 12 international centuries have come in Pakistan.

Most ODI centuries for Pakistan

The innings also put him among the quickest in the world to reach 20 ODI hundreds. Only Hashim Amla (108 innings) and Virat Kohli (133 innings) got there faster. He crossed the mark ahead of David Warner, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers. Pakistan’s chase looked comfortable once Babar and Fakhar Zaman built a steady stand. Mohammad Rizwan joined him later and the pair took control without panic. Pakistan have now beaten South Africa and Sri Lanka in back to back ODI series, and Babar’s return to big scores gives them something they have missed for a while.