Babar Azam hits first international century after two-year gap

Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam finally broke his two-year century drought with an outstanding ton against Sri Lanka in the second one-day international (ODI) against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.

The former Pakistan captain's 20th in international cricket comes after a gap of two years, two months and 15 days.

The star batter brought up the much-anticipated century off 115 balls when he pulled Pramod Madushan for a single.

Babar, who last made an international century during the ACC Men's Asia Cup match against Nepal in 2023, had been unable to convert his starts into a big knock.

The 31-year-old scored multiple half-centuries across formats during the drought, but was unable to breach the 100-run barrier.

In the first ODI of the ongoing home series against Sri Lanka earlier this week, Babar showed glimpses of brilliance until Wanindu Hasaranga cleaned him up with a googly.

His 29-run knock stretched his wait for an international century, having gone 83 innings without amassing the milestone across formats, and thus drew level with Indian counterpart Kohli on the list of batters with the most innings without scoring an international century, led by Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya.

However, his 84th international innings since his last international century turned out to be a lucky charm for him as he finally reached the milestone after a wait of 807 days.

The drought-ending century was Babar's 32nd in international cricket and 20th in ODIs. He has scored nine tons in Tests, while three in T20Is. Coupled with 32 centuries, the right-handed batter also has 104 half-centuries to his name across formats.

Babar has also equalled the record for most ODI centuries for Pakistan. By scoring a century against Sri Lanka, Babar Azam matched Saeed Anwar's national record.

Anwar scored 20 centuries in 244 innings, while Babar now has 20 centuries in 136 innings.

The 31-year-old also surpassed South Africa's AB de Villiers to become the third-fastest batter in men's ODI history to score 20 centuries, taking 39 innings fewer than the former South Africa captain.

Babar is only behind South Africa's Hashim Amla and India's Virat Kohli on the list, who achieved the landmark in 108 and 133 innings, respectively.

This was his fourth ODI century against Sri Lanka, drawing level with former captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez as the joint second-highest century-makers against the Island nation.