Will Babar Azam break Virat Kohli’s record in IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2023 clash?

Pakistan captain Babar Azam got his Asia Cup 2023 campaign off to a brilliant start, smashing 151 off only 131 balls in the opening game of the tournament against Nepal in Multan on Wednesday. The right-handed batter slammed 14 fours and four sixes and was named Player of the Match as Pakistan thumped Nepal by 238 runs.

Pakistan will next take on arch-rivals India in Pallekele on Saturday. Babar has a great chance of breaking a record held by Virat Kohli in the high-voltage clash. The Pakistan batter is only six runs away from becoming the fastest captain to score 2,000 ODI runs.

Kohli needed 36 innings to score 2000 ODI runs as Team India captain. On the other hand, Babar has already scored 1994 runs in 30 ODI innings. Overall, the 28-year-old has notched up 5353 runs in 104 ODI matches at an average of 59.48, with 19 hundreds.

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Babar breaks Amla’s record with ton against Nepal

With his magnificent century against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener, Babar surpassed Hashim Amla to become the quickest batter in history to notch up 19 ODI centuries.

The Pakistan captain reached his 19th ton in his 102nd ODI innings, while Amla got there in 104 innings. Kohli (124), David Warner (139), and AB de Villiers (171) complete the top five among batters with the fewest innings needed to reach 19 ODI tons.

Also, Babar’s 151 is now the second-highest score in the Asia Cup in ODIs. The record for the highest individual score in the tournament is held by Kohli, who clobbered 183 off 148 balls against Pakistan in Mirpur in 2012.

Following his knock against Nepal, Babar became the first captain to score 150 or more in the Asia Cup - the previous best was Kohli’s 136 against Bangladesh in 2014. The innings also marked the second instance of Babar scoring 150 or more in an ODI. He hammered 158 against England at Birmingham in 2021.

With his 31st international ton, Babar also drew level with Pakistan greats Javed Miandad and Saeed Anwar. Younis Khan (41), Mohammad Yousuf (39), and Inzamam-ul-Haq (35) are the only players from Pakistan who have scored more tons in international cricket than the present captain.