Decoding Babar Azam's sorry stats in Asia Cup
The 2023 Asia Cup is just around the corner and all six participating teams are gearing up for the continental event. The tournament will be held in a hybrid model with four games in Pakistan and nine in Sri Lanka. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam will be critical to his side's chances. He, however, owns a poor Asia Cup record. Here are his sorry stats.
156 runs in the 2018 edition
Babar has appeared in just one previous edition of the ODI Asia Cup, in 2018. Pakistan endured a poor run in the competition, having clinched just two of their five games. Babar managed just 156 runs at 31.20. His solitary half-century (66) came against Afghanistan. Babar's other scores in the competition were 33, 47, 9, and 1.
An average of 11.33 in 2022 Asia Cup
Babar had an forgettable time in the last year's Asia Cup, which was staged in the T20 format. He could only manage 68 runs in six games at 11.33. His highest score read 30. His failure at the top meant the Men in Green failed to qualify for the final. The star batter smoked only seven boundaries in the entire competition.
Babar's stellar ODI numbers at home
Pakistan will play a maximum of two games at home in this year's Asia Cup and they would not want to let the home crowd down. Notably, Babar has been sensational in home ODIs, slamming 1,303 runs in 20 games at 72.38. The tally includes six tons and eight fifties with his strike rate reading 94.01 in this regard.
Fastest to 5,000 ODI runs
Earlier this year, Babar became the fastest batter to complete 5,000 ODI runs, accomplishing the feat in 97 innings. Babar has now raced to 5,089 runs in 100 games at a splendid average of 59.17. He has 18 tons and 26 fifties with his highest score being 158. In 2023, he has so far hammered 425 ODI runs at 53.12.
