Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam finally ended his long-standing century drought with a composed knock against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of the three-match series at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
The right handed batter brought up the much-anticipated century off 115 balls when he pulled Pramod Madushan for a single.
Babar’s last international century came during the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023 match against Nepal, leaving him unable to convert starts into big scores in the meantime.
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It was Babar’s first international century in 807 days.
Interestingly, his drought ended in his 84th international innings, mirroring former Indian captain Virat Kohli, who also ended a long gap without a hundred in his 84th innings against Afghanistan in the 2022 ACC T20 Asia Cup, having gone 83 innings and 1,020 days without scoring an international century.
READ: Babar Azam achieves two major ODI milestones against Sri Lanka
Kohli had gone without a century since his ton against Bangladesh in the Kolkata Test 2019, waiting around three years to reach the milestone again.
Both batters, therefore, share the rare distinction of ending lengthy century droughts in exactly their 84th international innings.
Beyond ending the drought, Babar also equalled the record of legendary Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar for the most centuries by a Pakistani in One-Day Internationals.
READ: Babar Azam’s century secures Pakistan’s ODI series victory
Anwar had scored 20 centuries in 247 matches and 244 innings, while Babar reached the mark in just 139 matches and 136 innings.
Most ODI centuries by Pakistani batters:
Saeed Anwar – 20 centuries in 247 matches
Babar Azam – 20* centuries in 139 matches
Mohammad Yousuf – 15 centuries in 281 matches
Fakhar Zaman – 11 centuries in 91 matches
Mohammad Hafeez – 11 centuries in 218 matches
In addition to equalling Anwar’s record, Babar became the third-fastest batter in ODI history to reach 20 centuries, completing the milestone in 136 innings.
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He only trails South Africa’s Hashim Amla (108 innings) and India’s Virat Kohli (133 innings), while sitting ahead of David Warner (142 innings) and Quinton de Kock (150 innings).
Fastest players to 20 ODI centuries:
Hashim Amla – 108 innings
Virat Kohli – 133 innings
Babar Azam – 136* innings
David Warner – 142 innings
Quinton de Kock – 150 innings
This century was Babar’s 32nd across all international formats, including nine in Tests, 20 in ODIs, and three in T20Is.
In the match, Pakistan successfully chased a target of 289 against Sri Lanka in the second ODI, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
