PAK vs BAN: Babar Azam Shatters Virat Kohli's Magnificent Record As Captain

Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Babar Azam has broken yet another massive record of India National Cricket Team modern-day batting great Virat Kohli.

The Pakistan skipper, who is currently participating in the Asia Cup 2023, is the No.1 ranked batsman in the ICC ODI Rankings and he is not expected to lose the top spot anytime soon. So far he has looked stellar with the bat in the continental tournament.

In the curtain raiser of Asia Cup 2023 against Nepal, Babar Azam scored 151 runs off 131 balls, including 14 fours and 4 sixes, under pressure and he also stitched together an outstanding 214 runs in 131 balls with Iftikhar Ahmed to power Pakistan to a total of 342 runs.

The Pakistan captain completed 19 ODI tons in 102 innings and became the fastest to achieve the feat and his 151-run knock became the highest by any captain in Asia Cup history.

Babar Azam Breaks Virat Kohli’s Massive Record As Captain

During the first match of the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2023 against Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh National Cricket Team, Babar Azam went past Virat Kohli’s huge milestone as captain.

Heading into the match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday, September 6, Babar Azam was six runs away from completing 2000 ODI runs as captain. He scored 17 runs during the run-chase before being dismissed by Taskin Ahmed.

However, his knock was enough to make him the fastest captain to reach 2000 runs in One Day International (ODI) cricket. He took 31 innings to reach the milestone, whereas Virat had achieved the feat in 36 innings. The next batters on the list are AB de Villiers and Michael Clarke, who achieved the feat in 41 and 47 innings, respectively.

Overall, Babar Azam is the second-highest century hitter for Pakistan in ODIs, only behind Saeed Anwar, who hit 20 tons in ODIs in 244 innings. Ahead of the match, Babar was asked about equalling Anwar’s record to which he responded that he wanted to smash a ton against Bangladesh and level with the batting great.

“(One century from equalling Anwar’s century count) I am looking forward to this match, I’ll try to break the record but I’m looking to win this match. Last night we saw a bit of help for fast bowlers, that’s why we have an extra fast bowler,” Babar Azam said.