KARACHI: Pakistan all-format skipper Babar Azam on Friday broke another world record as he became the fastest batter to score 5000 runs in One-Day international cricket during the ongoing PAK vs NZ ODI. Babar surpassed South Africa’s legendary batter Hashim Amla to reach the landmark in the fewest number of innings.

The 28-year-old took just 97 innings to amass 5000 ODI runs, four innings fewer than the previous record of 101 innings held by Amla.

Meanwhile, he left behind greats on the list including West Indies’ Sir Vivian Richards and Indian star Virat Kohli, who both took 114 innings to reach the mark. It is worth mentioning here that the no.1-ranked ODI batter was also the second-fastest to gather 4,000 runs in ODI cricket.

He fell one short of Hashim Amla’s 81 innings when he reached that mark in the first ODI against Australia in Lahore last year. Babar raced to his next 1000 runs in only 15 innings to make sure he overtakes Amla this time. The right-hander claimed the feat when he completed his 19th run while Pakistan were 86/1 in the 17th over of their innings. New Zealand, who are trailing 3-0 in the five-game series, won the toss and put Pakistan to bat in the fourth ODI.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 06 2023

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