Babar Azam Becomes The Quickest to Score 13 ODI Centuries in The World

Babar Azam has become the fastest batsman in the world to score thirteen ODI centuries, he has taken only 76 innings to achieve the feat. The previous quickest to the hallmark was former South African batsman, Hashim Amla, who took 83 innings to score thirteen centuries.Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, and South African wicket-keeper batsman, Quinton De Kock, took 86 innings to score their 13th ODI century.

Here is the list of quickest to 13 ODI centuries:

Azam’s exquisite innings of 103 of 104 balls led Pakistan to a victory in the first ODI against the Proteas and has put them in a strong position to claim a series win. This was Babar’s second century as ODI captain, his previous came against Zimbabwe in Rawalpindi in November 2020.
This was Babar’s first ODI century against South Africa, he has scored four centuries against West Indies, three against Sri Lanka, two against Zimbabwe, and one each against New Zealand, Australia, and England. Having played cricket in ten countries, South Africa is the seventh nation he has scored a century in, his other centuries have come in Pakistan, England, Australia, UAE, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.

Before the start of the ODI series, Azam was placed at the second spot in the ICC ODI batsman rankings, only 20 points behind the number one ODI batsman in the world, Virat Kohli. Azam’s brilliant century will help him close the gap at the top and if he performs in the next two ODI’s he might be the new number one ranked ODI batsman in the world, dethroning Kohli’s stay at the top since 2017.