India vs Pakistan: Babar Azam Closes In On Virat Kohli's BIG Record

Babar Azam is in form of his life, toppling one record after the other. He is now nearing a big Virat Kohli feat. Pakistan captain is expected to go past India legend in the upcoming INDO-PAK clash of Asia Cup.

Babar Azam and Virat Kohli. (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan captain Babar Azam smashed 151 off 131 balls in Match 1 of Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday (August 30) to help his team thump Nepal by a massive margin of 238 runs. Babar's innings included 14 fours and 4 sixes respectively. This was Babar's 19th ODI century. He has become the fastest, in terms of innings taken, to the 19 centuries. Hashim Amla was the fastest earlier, doing it in just 104 innings while Virat Kohli did it in 124 innings followed by David Warner (139) and AB de Villiers (171).

Babar is eyein another big milestone as captain/batter which will also take him past his idol Virat Kohli. Babar is just six runs short of 2,000 runs in ODIs as captain. Kohli had reached the landmark in 36 innings. Babar is likely to do the same in 31 innings. The Pakistan captain currently has 1,994 runs in just 30 innings. Expect him to go past the Indian batting maestro in the Asia Cup itself.

__ Centurions Iftikhar Ahmed and Babar Azam review the Asia Cup opener and talk about the support from the Multan crowd _#PAKvNEP | #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/dsGHkS7ZYT — Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 30, 2023

Not to forget, Babar has also broken another record held by Hashim Amla. Babar has scored more runs in 102 innings than anyone. After 102 innings, Amla scored 5,165 runs while Babar has made 5,353 runs.

Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam

India play Pakistan on September 2 at Kandy in what is going to be their first match of Asia Cup 2023. This match will also be a mini battle of sorts between India's best and Pakistan's best. Babar vs Kohli will be on offer for the fans present at the stadium and those hooked to their TV sets and digital devices. Kohli has not played a lot of ODI cricket this year but he has been in good touch. On the other hand, Babar is playing at god-level currently, scoring tons of runs consistently. He is the World No 1 batter in the world in this format of the game and by some distance as well. 

When it comes to the big stage, the great batters raise their hand and be counted. It cannot get bigger than India vs Pakistan in world cricket and it will be interesting to see how these two go. But what will be at the top of their minds won't be their personal achievements and but getting their teams the much-needed win. Asia Cup is also a good opportunity for all World Cup-bound teams to prepare for the big ticket event in India.