Babar Azam closes in on Indian Rohit Sharma as player with most T20I hundreds

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is close to beating the record of Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma — who currently tops the International Cricket Council (ICC) list with four centuries — after he scored his third T20I century during a five-match series against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.

The hundred puts Babar — who is the only Pakistan batter with more than one ton in the format — close to the top of the list of batters with the most T20I tons. 

Following Rohit and Babar are Czech player Sabawoon Davizi (3 tons and 5 fifties), Australia’s Glenn Maxwell (3 tons and 10 fifties), New Zealand’s Colin Munro (3 tons and 11 fifties), and Indian Suryakumar Yadav (3 tons and 13 fifties).

Helping his side to a 2-0 lead, the Pakistan skipper put on a 99-run opening stand with wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan.

However, Rizwan was dismissed by Matt Henry, who also bowled out Fakhar Zaman in the next ball.

During the match, Babar managed to score his half-century on merely 36 balls and then slammed 51 runs off the next 22 deliveries, including 36 runs off the last three overs.

Babar smashed James Neesham for two fours and a six in the last over, completing his 100 runs off the final ball of the innings.

The performance of the skipper — who also shared an unbeaten 87-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed — helped his side restrict their opponents to 154/7.

It is pertinent to mention here that both Babar and Rohit have 33 scores of fifty or more in T20Is, second only to Virat Kohli, who has 38 such scores.