Babar Azam breaks Kohli's record and becomes the third fastest player to score 11 ODI tons

International cricket has now resumed in Pakistan almost after a decade. However, the first ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Karachi was abandoned. The second ODI was held at the same venue on Monday. 

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bat first amidst a warm reception from the crowd.

The openers gave them a solid start by sharing a 74-run partnership for the first wicket. Fakhar Zaman scored his 12th half-century in ODI cricket. When Pakistan lost the second wicket in the 21st over, it was Babar Azam who came to the crease.

He has been in good form and the right-hander had crossed the 50-run mark three times in his last four innings. Azam carried on his great nick in this game too, and was well supported by Haris Sohail who scored 40 runs. Both Sohail and Sarfraz got run-out in quick succession.

Though Pakistan kept losing wickets at one end, Babar held the innings with some useful help from the other end. The Lahore based right-hander notched up his 11th century in ODI cricket.

In the process, he became the fastest Pakistan batsman to smash 11 ODI hundreds. He also broke Virat Kohli of being the third-fastest to reach the feat. Azam took just 71 innings while the Indian captain took 82.

The 24-year old batsman also reached 1000 ODI runs in this calendar year in just 19 innings, which is the fastest by any Pakistan player in a calendar year. The previous record was held by legendary batsman Javed Miandad who took 21 innings to score 1000 runs in 1987.

The century from Pakistan's star player helped them to win the second ODI by 67 runs and it was a great treat for the fans who gathered in thousands to support their team playing at home after a long time.

Cover image credits: BBC