Babar Azam races past 1,000 ODI runs in 2023
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has raced to 1,000 ODI runs in 2023. He reached the milestone with a compact knock against New Zealand in Match 35 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Bengaluru. After a couple of quiet outings early in the tournament, Babar is back among the runs. He entered the Pakistan game, requiring 39 runs to get the mark.
Babar joins these names
Babar took 24 games to accomplish 1,000 ODI runs in 2023 as he averages over 43 this year. The tally includes nine fifties and two tons. Shubman Gill (1,426), Pathum Nissanka (1,108), Rohit Sharma (1,060), Virat Kohli (1,054), and Daryl Mitchell (1,027) are the others with 1,000-plus ODI runs this year. The Pakistan captain has been dismissed on duck only once this year.
Babar accomplishes the feat for the second time
Meanwhile, Babar has touched the 1,000-run mark in ODIs for the second time in a calendar year. In 2019, he returned with 1,092 runs in 20 matches at 60.66. 2017 is the only other year that saw Babar finish with over 700 runs in the format. He accumulated 872 runs that year.
Babar was the fastest batter to surpass 5,000 ODI runs
Earlier this year, Babar became the fastest to surpass 5,000 ODI runs, in only 97 innings. Playing his 116th ODI match, Babar has raced past 5,650 runs at a 56-plus average. He has maintained an ODI strike rate of 88-plus. Notably, he has the best ODI average among Pakistani batters with at least 1,000 runs in this format.
Babar can be the second-fastest to 20 ODI centuries
Babar currently owns 19 tons and 31 fifties in the format. The batter, who is playing his 113th ODI innings, can become the second-fastest batter to reach 20 ODI centuries. He can go past Kohli, who took 133 innings to reach the milestone. SA's Hashim Amla is the fastest to the 20-century mark in ODIs, having taken just 108 innings.
