Pakistan star Babar Azam finally broke his two-year drought with an excellent ton against Sri Lanka in the second One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The former Pakistan captain’s 20th finish in international cricket comes after a gap of two years, two months and 15 days.
The star batsman brought up the much-awaited century off 115 balls when he pulled Pramod Madushan for a single.
Babar, who last scored an international century in the 2023 ACC Men’s Asia Cup match against Nepal, had failed to convert his starts into big knocks.
The 31-year-old scored several half-centuries across formats during the drought but failed to break the 100-run mark.
In the first ODI of the ongoing home series against Sri Lanka earlier this week, Babar showed glimpses of brilliance until Wanindu Hasaranga cleared him with a googly.
His 29-run knock extended his wait for an international century after he went 83 innings without amassing the milestone across formats, moving level with Indian counterpart Kohli on the list of batsmen with the most innings without scoring an international century, led by Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya.
However, his 84th international innings since his last international century turned out to be a lucky charm for him as he finally reached the milestone after a wait of 807 days.
The drought-ending century was Babar’s 32nd in international cricket and 20th in ODIs. He has scored nine tons in Tests while three in T20Is. Combined with 32 centuries, the right-handed batsman also has 104 half-centuries to his name across formats.
Babar has also equaled the record for most ODI centuries for Pakistan. By scoring a century against Sri Lanka, Babar Azam equaled Saeed Anwar’s national record.
Anwar has scored 20 centuries in 244 innings, while Babar now has 20 centuries in 136 innings.
