On November 15, 2025, Babar Azam made Pakistan cricket fans very happy. In the second One-Day International (ODI) match against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Babar scored an unbeaten 102 runs off 119 balls. This was his 20th ODI century and his 32nd century in all international cricket.
Pakistan won the match by eight wickets with 85 balls left. For Babar, this was a special moment. He had waited 807 days—more than two years—for this century. It came after 83 innings without scoring 100 runs.
Pakistan was already leading the three-match series 1-0 after winning the first game. Babar opened the batting with Abdullah Shafique. He came in at number three after a fast start. Babar played carefully at first, then hit beautiful drives and took smart risks. He reached his century in the 35th over with a nice flick for four runs off Dunith Wellalage.
The crowd cheered loudly. Pakistan easily chased 242 runs, but everyone talked about Babar’s innings. When he raised his bat, you could see how relieved he was.
Babar Azam Century Like Virat Kohli
Babar’s story is similar to Indian star Virat Kohli. In September 2024, Kohli also ended a long wait for a century. It was after 1020 days and 83 innings without a hundred. This happened in a T20 World Cup match against Pakistan in New York. Kohli scored 82 there, but his next big hundred came in an ODI against Australia. Like Babar, Kohli was facing a lot of pressure.
People said he was losing his form. But both players showed great fight. Kohli has 70 international centuries. Babar has 32 so far. Both are big leaders in cricket.
Just before this match, Babar had also reached 83 innings without a century, like Kohli. It happened after he scored only 29 in the first ODI.
Equal to Saeed Anwar: But Faster!
This century made Babar equal to Pakistan’s great player Saeed Anwar. Both now have 20 ODI centuries—the most for any Pakistani. Saeed Anwar was a stylish left-hand batsman. He scored those 20 hundreds in 243 ODI innings. That took a long time in his career.
Babar did it in just 136 innings. That’s 107 fewer than Anwar! Babar is only 31 years old. He has played as an opener and in the middle order. Now, he is back opening. This shows how good and quick Babar is.
The Long Wait: Everyone Was Hoping
Babar’s last international century was on August 30, 2023. It was 151 runs against Nepal in the Asia Cup. That feels like a long time ago. In these two years, Babar had tough times. He lost his job as captain in all formats at the end of 2023. He said he needed a break for his mind. But the pressure never stopped. He had many low scores and some fifties, but no big hundreds. In Tests, his average fell to 21.36 in 2023-24.
Pakistan fans waited so much. Social media had memes and talks like “Babar bhai, please score a century!” The whole country loves cricket. After early exits from World Cups and changes in coaches, fans needed this. Babar’s no-century time felt like Pakistan’s team problems—bad choices, weak bowling, and no steady play in short games.
For Babar, this hundred was very important. It showed his great skills against Sri Lanka’s spinners. It stopped people calling him weak in big chases. For Pakistan cricket, it’s a big hope. When Babar scores big, the team wins easily, like in this series.
The stadium in Pallekele was full of cheers. Babar enjoyed the love from fans. The wait is over, but he wants more. Babar is not just back—he is making new records with his smooth shots. For Pakistan, this is more than 100 runs. It’s a new start full of hope.
Myself Aditya and I am from Mumbai, India. As an intern, I joined the local news agency in Mumbai named “The Mumbai News”. Now I am working with various News Agencies and I provide them reports from Mumbai and other parts of India.
