Babar Azam - In a league of his own

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has shown unreal consistency in ODI cricket over the last two years. Since July 2021, in 17 innings, he has scored well over 1000 runs with 14 fifty-plus knocks which includes four hundreds. 

On Friday, Babar scored his 18th career hundred in the fourth ODI match against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi and with that scripted yet another blistering world record in the format as he shattered Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla's feat.

En route to his hundred, his third consecutive fifty-plus score in the series, Babar reached the milestone of 5000 runs in his ODI career. 

And having completed the feat in just his 97th innings in ODIs, Babar became the fastest ever batter to 5000 runs, going past the previous record of 101 innings held by veteran South Africa batter Amla while both Kohli and Viv Richards had achieved the feat in their 114th innings. Australia's David Warner stands next in line with 115 innings.

The win against New Zealand gave Pakistan a 4-0 lead in the five-match series and took them to number one for the first time since the International Cricket Council officially recognised the rankings in 2005.

Pakistan's previous highest ODI ranking was third which they attained in January 2018 and again in June 2022.

Babar is the 14th Pakistani to score 5,000 or more runs in ODI cricket, with former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq top of the list with 11,701.

He is also the fastest to 18 ODI hundreds, beating Amla's record of 102 innings.

Former Pakistan international and cricket board president Ramiz Raja compared Babar to Don Bradman after the Pakistan captain became the fastest man to 5000 ODI runs and took his team to top of ODI rankings for the first time.

"Babar Azam is no less than Don Bradman," Raja said on his YouTube channel. "In white-ball cricket, he has statistically become the best player in the world."

The 28-year-old has 5088 runs at an average of almost 60 in ODIs. His batting average is the highest among batters with minimum 5000 runs.

"I have never seen so much consistency from a player in such a risky format."

The base of which is his technique and temperament. He has no technical issues, whether it is a grassy pitch or a pitch like Karachi, where bowlers generally struggle."

"He is the fastest to 5000 ODI runs and has surpassed many legends like Viv Richards, which is a big achievement. He is the reason why Pakistan has become the number one team in ODI rankings," he said.