Pakistan skipper Babar Azam entered the record books yet again after he moved above Sachin Tendulkar to 15th position in the ICC all-time ODI Rankings for batters. Following his exemplary performance in the home series against Australia, Babar reached 891 rating points in the men's rankings. In comparison, India’s Master Blaster had 887 rating points by the time he retired.
The 27-year-old is in the best form of his life. He scored 390 runs in the Test series against Australia, including a record-breaking 196 in the second Test to salvage a draw. This was followed by some splendid batting in the ODI series, scoring consecutive tons and helping Pakistan secure the trophy with a 2-1 margin.
The opener's unbeaten 105 off 115 balls in the third ODI was his 16th three-figure score in the format in 84 innings. He has now 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.
Babar scored his second successive century in the series and partnered with Imam-ul-Haq, who chipped in with an unbeaten 89 as the pair put up an unbeaten 190 stand.
“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 Player of the Series trophy, said in the post-match presentation.
"Almost every bowler of ours executed their plans. There is pressure but you should play your game. I try to take most of the pressure and back my boys."
The ton was also Babar's fourth while chasing in ODI cricket as a captain, the joint second-most in the world alongside former India captain Sourav Ganguly. The two come second only to Virat Kohli (13) among Asian captains in the 50-over format.
The all-time charts see Sir Viv Richards on the top spot with 935 rating points, followed by Zaheer Abbas (931), Greg Chappell (921), David Gower (919), and Dean Jones (918). Kohli is sixth on the panel with 911 rating points under his belt.
