Pakistan fans can finally celebrate as Babar Azam has broken his long-running century drought in style. The former Pakistan captain scored an unbeaten 102 off 119 balls to break his long-running century drought across all formats at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Babar Azam’s brilliant century guided Pakistan to a stunning eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second ODI in Rawalpindi on Friday, November 14. The chase of 289 looked challenging at one point, but Babar controlled the innings with calmness and class and led his team to victory with 10 balls to spare.
Babar Azam ends 807 day drought by scoring a brilliant century against Sri Lanka
This century was not just an individual milestone, as it ended Babar Azam’s dry patch, which spanned 83 international innings, including 33 ODI innings. It took 807 days for Pakistan’s star player to end the drought and it was one of the longest gaps between centuries for a modern-day batting superstar.
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The former Pakistan’s last international century came against Nepal during the 2023 Asia Cup. With this innings, Babar has now reached the top of Pakistan’s all-time ODI century list. He is now tied with Saeed Anwar at number one position with 20 centuries.
Behind him are Mohammad Yousuf with 15 centuries and Mohammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman with 11 centuries each. This milestone also has an interesting twist.
Babar’s century drought lasted exactly the same number of innings – 83 – as India’s batting icon Virat Kohli’s famous dry run between 2019 and 2022. Kohli finally broke his century drought during the Asia Cup against Afghanistan in UAE. And now Babar has ended his century drought on home ground.
Babar Azam rewrote history in Rawalpindi
Meanwhile, Azam’s unbeaten century in Rawalpindi not only ended his long wait for a century but also pushed him past many legendary names of Pakistani cricket. With this innings, Babar has now overtaken Mohammad Yousuf’s seven ODI centuries and holds the record for most ODI centuries on Pakistani soil. Now he has eight ODI centuries at home.
Additionally, the right-handed batsman has become the third fastest player in the world to reach 20 ODI centuries in just 136 innings after Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli.
Babar is now just one step away from equaling Inzamam-ul-Haq’s record of most ODI centuries for Pakistan. Former Pakistan captain and former chief selector Inzamam leads the charts with 41 100-run partnerships, while Babar already has 40 such partnerships to his name.
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Babar Azam reflects on hard work after record-breaking century
After being named player of the match for his match-winning innings against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi, the right-handed batsman said that he kept believing in his skills and his efforts and now he feels proud to achieve these milestones.
Babar said in the post-match presentation, “I wanted to believe in myself and my hard work. I was starting well, but I was not able to live up to the expectations. I was getting out at the wrong time. I was just trying my best. It is an honor to surpass the records of all the greats.”
