Babar Azam breaks ODI record

KARACHI: Pakistani captain Babar Azam has achieved a notable milestone by breaking Hashim Amla’s record, becoming the fastest player to reach 19 ODI centuries.

According to reports, his accomplishment came following his century against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023’s opening match held in Multan on Wednesday.

After breaking Hashim Amla’s record of being the fastest batter to reach 5000 ODI runs, Babar Azam has surpassed South African batting legend again as he also became the fastest batter to complete 19 ODI centuries on Wednesday.#AsiaCup2023 #PAKvsNEP #BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/TDZLv6Imqk

— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) August 30, 2023

The reports said that Azam received the record in only 102 innings, beating Amla’s 104 innings. This makes Azam the fastest player to reach this milestone in ODI cricket.

It is pertinent to note that Babar Azam’s impressive performance gains context from Pakistan’s early setbacks, with a score of 25-2 after the dismissals of Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq. The skipper’s resilience shone as he partnered with Mohammad Rizwan, amassing an essential 86-run alliance before Rizwan fell victim to a peculiar run-out.

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Following Rizwan’s departure, Salman Agha joined the game for a breif time but was quickly out when he tried a reverse-sweep shot against Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichaane.

In the company of Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam continued to anchor the innings.

At the time of reporting, Azam stood unbeaten at 131*, while Iftikhar was at 68*.

This achievement positions Babar at the forefront of the roster of speediest batsmen to achieve 19 ODI centuries, with Hashim Amla (104), Virat Kohli (124), David Warner (139), and AB de Villiers (171) following in sequence.