Stats: Babar Azam scores his 11th century in ODI cricket

The return of ODI cricket to Pakistan was made a special one by Babar Azam who cracked his 11th ODI hundred, his first at home. Babar scored 54 on his ODI debut in the 2015 ODI against Zimbabwe which was incidentally the last ODI hosted by Pakistan. The game against Sri Lanka on Monday was the first in Karachi after 10 years. Babar smashed four sixes and eight fours on his way through to a 105-ball 115.

His century helped Pakistan reach 305/7 in their 50 overs after electing to bat first. Exactly on 30th September in 2016, Babar scored his maiden ODI ton in his 16th innings. He took another 55 innings to score ten more hundreds. The Pakistan No.3 has often enjoyed batting in ODIs against Sri Lanka. The 115-run knock was his 3rd ODI century against the Lankans in only eight innings.

When on 54 in this game, Babar completed 1000 runs in ODI format this year. He thus became the first Pakistan player to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year since the start of 2014. Babar needed only 19 innings to reach 1000 ODI runs in 2019; the fewest any Pakistan player needed for 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year. The record was previously held by Javed Miandad who needed 21 innings for 1000 runs in ODI format in 1987.

As many as 47 players including Babar Azam have scored at least 11 centuries in the Men’s ODI cricket. However, only two men scored 11 ODI tons quicker than Babar who required 71 innings. The South African opener Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock needed 64 and 65 innings respectively for scoring 11 ODI hundreds. Only four other men got to their 11th ton in their ODI career in fewer than 100 innings.

When it comes to Women’s cricket, the current Australian skipper Meg Lanning is the only player to score 11 or more ODI hundreds. Lanning scored 11th ODI hundred in her 59th innings which would make her faster than any player in Men’s cricket. She also holds the record for fewest innings taken to score 12 and 13 ODI hundreds across Men’s and Women’s cricket.

Fastest to 11 hundreds in Men’s One-Day Internationals:

(Stats as on September 30, 2019)