The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is truly the summit of this sport. It is a stage where legacies are made or ruined: a cauldron where the best talent in the world collides against the best in the business to prove their mettle and carve out their legend.
Babar Azam Record in World Cup
| Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | Avg | S/R | 50/100 | HS | 4s | 6s |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | 474 | 67.71 | 87.77 | 3/1 | 101* | 50 | 2 |
Pakistan's current skipper Babar Azam knows a thing or two about doing the same, after all, it was in the previous edition the this very tournament that the classy batsman announced himself to the cricketing world with a slew of consistent performances.
Having made his ODI debut in 2015, Babar asserted himself as one of the lynchpins of the Pakistani batting-unit by the time the 2019 event came on the horizon.
The tournament provided young Babar a golden opportunity to showcase his talent to the hilt against the best in the world.
But, just like his team, Babar proved to be a slow-starter as he managed just 1 50+ score (63 off 66 vs England) in his first 4 outings, which included underwhelming performance against Australia (30 off 28) and arch-rivals, India (48 off 57).
With his side under the pump after having managed just 1 win in 4 outings, the onus was on Babar to lead the batting-unit from the front, and he did that with disdain.
In the next game against New Zealand, Azam played one of the best knocks of his career thus far, scoring a classy unbeaten 127-ball 101* to lead Pakistan past the finishing line in the tricky run-chase of 238.
Azam continued leading from the front as he backed up it with match-winning half-centuries against South Africa (69 off 80) and Bangladesh (96 off 98) to give his side the best possible chance of making it to the knockouts.
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Babar eventually finished his World Cup campaign with 474 runs under belt at an average of 67.71 with the help of 3 half-centuries and 1 hundred.
In the process, he claimed the feat of scoring the most runs by a Pakistani batter in a single edition of a World Cup. The record was previously held by the legendary Javed Miandad, who scored 437 runs in his teams' triumphant 1992 World Cup campaign.
4 years on from that watershed event, Babar will enter his 2nd World Cup as the No.1 ranked ODI batsman in the world.
![[Watch] Babar Azam reacts furiously to \'ZimBabar\' chants from the Multan Crowd in PSL 2024 clash](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/02/8e3a7-17087789156153-1920.jpg?h=166)
