Revisiting Babar Azam’s limited-overs records

Babar Azam broke into the Pakistani limited overs side in May 2015. As Pakistan had already seen some of their best batsmen either retire, on the verge of retiring, or in a bad form, Babar was a welcome inclusion into the team.

He was seen as a regular young batsman who had been drafted into the spot held by the Pakistani legend Younis Khan, and there were many expectations attached to him. And deliver he sure did.

In just a short span of time, Babar has not only become a constant in Pakistan’s limited-overs starting XI but also arguably the best batsman Pakistan has seen in a long time.

Not only has Babar scored heavily in both ODIs and T20Is, but he has also done so very consistently and found himself reach the No.1 spot in ODI and T20Is rankings on different occasions. He is only the second Pakistani batsman after Misbah-ul-Haq to top the international rankings in the shortest format of the game.

Playing on the international level for only over three and a half years, Babar has amassed quite a few interesting limited overs records.

Let’s take a look at five of his extraordinary records in ODIs and T20Is.

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#5 Second Fastest to 1,000 & 2,000 Runs in ODIs

Easier said than done

Babar Azam not only started his ODI career on a high but has taken it to greater heights in subsequent innings.

He held the record for the fastest batsman to scored 1000 runs in ODIs by doing so in just 21 innings. This led to him joining greats like Sir Viv Richards, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, and Quinton De Kock who too had achieved the feat in just 21 innings.

Later, another Pakistani batsman Fakhar Zaman broke the record by reaching the milestone in just 19 innings, dropping the above-mentioned batsmen one spot to second fastest.

Continuing the great form in limited overs format, Babar became the second fastest to 2,000 runs joining the likes of the Asian Bradman Zaheer Abbas and Englishman Kevin Pietersen. All three men scored 2,000 ODI runs in 45 innings and are second to Hashim Amla’s record fastest 40 innings.

#4 Most runs in first 25 Innings

Records have tumbled in his presence

Carrying on his habit of creating distinctive records, Babar Azam became the top-run scorer in first 25 ODI career innings. He did so with a match-winning knock of 125 runs against West Indies on April 9, 2017.

The innings saw him smash three sixes and seven boundaries as he scored 125 off 132 deliveries in the first innings of the match. This led to the team’s victory as they scored 74 runs more than their opponents.

Babar ended up reaching 1306 runs in his first 25 innings which saw him surpass the previous record held by England’s Jonathan Trott.

Jonathan Trott held the record prior to Babar as he had scored 1280 runs in his initial 25 ODI innings. West Indian great Sir Viv Richards had scored 1211, while England’s Kevin Pietersen and South Africa’s Quinton De Kock scored 1189 and 1181 respectively in their initial 25 innings.

#3 Highest number of centuries after initial 25 ODI innings

West Indies has been his favorite side to score against

Not only has Babar scored the highest number of runs in initial 25 ODI innings, but he has also scored the highest number of centuries in initial 25 ODI innings.

Babar, just like Quinton de Kock, scored five ODI centuries in his first 25 ODI innings which too is a record. While Babar scored his fifth century in the 25 innings of his career, De Kock did so in just his 19th innings.

After 44 completed ODI innings, Babar has eight centuries to his name with the highest score of 125 not out against West Indies.

West Indies has proven to be Babar’s favorite ODI team to play against, as he has scored four centuries against them in just six matches at an average of 102.80 and a strike rate of almost 96. With four centuries to his name against the West Indies, he is also jointly the second in the list of players scoring most centuries against the Caribbean team.

No other Pakistani batsman has scored more than two ODI centuries against West Indies, with Mohammad Yousuf, Saeed Anwar, and Rameez Raja the only three men who have scored two centuries against West Indies.

#2 Fastest to 1,000 runs in T20Is

Babar scored his 1000th T20I while being on top of the rankings

T20 is the fastest format in the world of cricket today. Being the fastest, it is also the riskiest which sees even the best batsmen score at an average of 35-40 runs per innings.

Yet, Babar Azam has managed to score at an average of over 50 in 23 innings. This has resulted in him becoming the fastest man to reach 1,000 runs in T20Is. Babar achieved this milestone by breaking the previous record held by Indian great Virat Kohli who had done so in 24 innings.

Babar’s highest score in T20Is is still 97 not out, which means he hasn’t scored a century in the format yet. He’s scored only six fifties in the format and hit just eleven sixes while reaching the record.

This proves that not only does T20Is require you to score big in each innings, nor hit sixes from the word go to, but only require the temperament and technique to be successful in this format too, just like ODIs and T20Is.

#1 Most runs in a 3-match series

West Indies has always suffered in his presence

West Indies has always been Babar’s favorite team to play against, and he has the record to prove the same. He’s played six matches against the side and scored a massive 514 runs against them. This includes four centuries as he’s scored at an average of almost 103 against them.

In his first series against the West Indies in April 2017, Babar scored 360 runs in just three matches to create a new world record. He surpassed fellow youngster Quinton de Kock and succeeded in making the most runs in a three-match series.

The first game for the series saw Babar score 120 runs to take his side to victory. He scored a match-winning 123 runs in the second game and bagged his second man of the match award as his side romped to victory. He scored a third consecutive century in the series to take his side to another victory with a score of 117.