Pakistan's skipper Babar Azam has made a habit of breaking records no matter which format he is playing in.
Azam, 28, broke former South Africa batter Hashim Amla's record as he became the fastest player to 19 ODI centuries after scoring a ton against Nepal in the first match of the Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday in Multan.
Azam reached this feat in just 102 innings while Amla did it in his 104th.
As he broke Amla's record, he also became the fastest player to achieve this feat in ODI cricket.
It must be noted that Babar Azam came to bat after Pakistan had an early collapse as they were 25-2 after Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq lost their wickets.
The 28-year-old stood tall on the crease and formed a crucial 86-run partnership with Mohammad Rizwan before the wicketkeeper batter got run out in a bizarre way.
After Rizwan lost his wicket, Salman Agha came to bat he, too, did not last long and lost his wicket while attempting a reverse-sweep shot to Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane.
After Agha's wicket, Azam formed a solid partnership with Iftikhar Ahmed.
By the time the story was filed, Babar was batting at 131* and Iftikhar was at 68*.
Innings taken to score 19 centuries:
Babar Azam: 102
Hashim Amla: 104
Virat Kohli: 124
David Warner: 139
AB de Villiers: 171
It must be noted that Babar (5353 runs) also broke Amla's (5165) record of scoring most runs in 102 innings.
Earlier today, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first against Nepal in the opening match of the Asia Cup 2023.
Nepal, as a team, and Multan, as a venue, will make their debut in the Asia Cup. It is also the first match between Pakistan and Nepal at the top level.
Pakistan entered the Asia Cup on a high as they topped the ICC rankings for ODI teams on Saturday after a 3-0 clean sweep over Afghanistan in Sri Lanka. This is the second time the Pakistan team topped the chart since April.
Lineups
Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.- Babar Azam