Babar Azam Ties Saeed Anwar on 20 ODI Centuries

Babar Azam is one century away from becoming Pakistan's leading ODI centurion after tying Saeed Anwar on 20 centuries. The next chance could come in Rawalpindi on Friday, when Pakistan face Australia in the first ODI.

Babar Azam And Saeed Anwar

Azam reached 20 ODI hundreds in 140 matches and 137 innings, a pace that puts him level with Anwar and within one more score of the outright record. He has 6,501 runs, a 53.72 average and an 87.16 strike rate in the format.

His ODI record also includes 37 fifties and a highest score of 158. That output leaves him as Pakistan's 11th-highest ODI run-scorer of all time, but the century count is the number now sitting closest to history.

Rawalpindi And Friday's ODI

Friday's first ODI against Australia gives him the immediate chance to move past Anwar on a list that has been tied at 20 apiece. A single hundred would make Azam the standalone leader for Pakistan in ODI centuries before the series moves on.

He arrives at the match after leading Peshawar Zalmi to victory in the Pakistan Super League. In that competition, he scored 588 runs in 11 innings at an average of 73.50 and a strike rate of 145.90, with two centuries, three fifties and a top score of 103.

Peshawar Zalmi Form

That PSL run gives Pakistan a batter who has already found scoring rhythm ahead of Australia. The challenge now is whether he turns that form into the one innings that pushes him beyond Anwar and into sole possession of a record that has stood level at 20 centuries.