Babar Azam finally had a moment to savour as the Pakistan ace steered his side to a series win in Rawalpindi on Friday. The 31-year-old scored his 20th ODI century, his first since 2023. Azam celebrated with relief and jubilation, much like Virat Kohli had done after ending his century drought in 2022.
The coincidences do not end there. Kohli had gone 83 innings before reaching the hundred mark against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup T20. Azam also went without a century for 83 innings before his effort on Friday. The Pakistan star's last century came against Nepal in the 2023 Asia Cup.
Babar reached his century in the 48th over of the innings with Pakistan in sight of a clear win. The 31-year-old removed his helmet and shrugged his arms aside, before looking up at the skies. He followed it up by kissing his locket as the Rawalpindi crowd.
It was the exact copy of Virat Kohli's celebration in Dubai after he had reached his three-figure mark in 2022.
The drought-ending century on Friday was Babar's 32nd in international cricket and 20th in ODIs. Azam has scored nine tons in Tests cricket, with three more in T20Is. Coupled with 32 centuries, the right-handed batter also has 104 half-centuries to his name across formats.
