Multan: Inspirational skipper Babar Azam confirmed his place among the list of all-time greats with a superb individual century against Nepal in the opening game of the Asia Cup in Multan on Wednesday.
Babar stroked a magnificent 151 from just 131 deliveries and in the process went past South Africa great Hashim Amla and became the quickest player in the history of the game to score 19 ODI centuries.
Babar reaches the feat from just 102 ODI innings, with Amla holding the previous best mark in 104 innings.
The world's No.1 ranked ODI batter hit 14 fours and four massive sixes during his entertaining innings and more records came tumbling as a result, an ICC report said.
The 151 was the second highest score achieved at the Asia Cup, only bettered by Virat Kohli's 183 against Pakistan in 2012.
It was the first time a captain has scored 150 or greater at an Asia Cup, beating the previous best from a skipper when Kohli compiled 136 against Bangladesh in 2014.
It was just the second time Babar has scored more than 150 in an ODI, with his innings of 158 against England at Birmingham in 2021 still his highest ODI score.
The knock sees Babar maintain his healthy lead as the No.1 ranked player on the ODI Batting Rankings.
The innings boosted Babar's ODI average to an astonishing 59.47, which is the fourth highest of all time in men’s ODI cricket and the best of any player with a minimum of 2000 ODI runs
It was Babar's 31st international century, drawing him level with Pakistan legends Javed Miandad and Saeed Anwar with Younis Khan (41), Mohammad Yousuf (39) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (35) the only players from the country in front of him.
It means Babar is now just one century away from equalling Anwar's record of 20 ODI centuries - the most by any player from the country.
With the Asia Cup having only just commenced and the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup just weeks away, it means Babar will have ample opportunity to break even more records by the end of the calendar year.
Pakistan are next in action at the Asia Cup on arch-rival India in Pallekele on Saturday, while their first clash at the World Cup this year comes against the Netherlands in Hyderabad on October 6. (UNI)
