Babar Azam Fastest Batsman To Score 5000 ODI Runs

By Mahmood Sherazi

Pakistan captain Babar Azam became the fastest batsman to complete 5 ODI runs during the fourth match against New Zealand in Karachi.

The 28-year-old batsman broke South Africa’s Hashim Amla’s record when he took a single to take his tally to 19 during Pakistan’s innings after New Zealand’s bowling decision. This is Azam’s 97th innings in 99 ODIs, before Hashim Amla crossed the milestone in 101 innings from 104 matches.Last year, Babar Azam was behind Hashim Amla’s record of fastest 4000 ODI runs in 81 innings by a small margin. The Pakistan captain has been the number one batsman in the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings for the past two years.He is the 14th Pakistani to score 5,000 or more runs in ODI cricket, former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq tops the list of highest run-scorers for Pakistan with 11,701 runs.Babar Azam made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in his hometown Lahore in May 2015.He is also the only batsman to score two consecutive centuries in three ODIs, having achieved this feat in 2016 and 2022.