Babar Azam achieves huge batting milestone, surpasses Tendulkar in elite list

Babar Azam continues to shatter records in the international arena, irrespective of the format. The talented right-handed batter scored 390 runs in the red-ball series against Australia, which included a record-breaking 196 in the second Test to salvage a draw. He followed it up with splendid batting shows in the ODI rubber, scoring consecutive tons and helping Pakistan in clinching the home assignment by a 2-1 margin.

The Pakistan captain has now moved to the 15th position in the ICC All-time ODI Rankings for batters. Legendary Sachin Tendulkar was 15th last week on the all-time charts with 887 rating points. Sir Viv Richards is on the first spot with 935 rating points, followed by Zaheer Abbas (931), Greg Chappell (921), David Gower (919) and Dean Jones (918). Virat Kohli is sixth on the panel with 911 rating points under his belt.

With his unbeaten 105 off 115 against Australia in the third ODI, Babar also reached a massive batting milestone. It was his 16th three-figure score in the format in 84 innings. He surpassed Hashim Amla's record of achieving the feat in 94 innings. Kohli and Australia's David Warner are second (110 innings) on the list.

The ton was also Babar's fourth while chasing in ODI cricket as a captain, which is the joint second-most in the world alongside former India captain Ganguly. The two stand second to only Kohli (13) among Asian captains in the 50-over format.

As Babar scored his second successive century, he combined with Imam ul Haq, who chipped in with an unbeaten 89 as the pair put up an unbeaten 190 stand. Babar, who hit 12 boundaries in his 115-ball knock, dominated the opposition bowlers as Pakistan chased down the 210 total in just 37.5 overs.

"You need confidence after losing the first game. The credit goes to the players as they took responsibility and showed good efforts with the ball and the bat. When you get early wickets, there is pressure on the opposition," Babar, who claimed the Man of the Series trophy, said in the post-match presentation.

"Almost every bowler of ours executed their plans. There is pressure but you should your game. I try to take most of the pressure and back my boys."