PAK vs SA: Babar Azam Creates History During ODI Series, Completes 15,000 Runs In International Cricket

Pakistan vs South Africa 3rd ODI Match: Pakistan's senior batter Babar Azam etched his name in the history books as he added another milestone to his illustrious career with a promising effort in their third and final ODI match against South Africa at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Saturday.

Babar, who has been a magnificent performer for Pakistan with the bat over the past few years, has completed 15,000 international runs in his career. He is only the fifth cricketer from Pakistan to achieve this milestone. He played a promising knock of 27 runs in 32 balls as Pakistan defeated South Africa by 7 wickets to bag the three-match series by 2-1.

Coming into the clash, Babar needed 23 runs to get to the milestone, and he got there in the ninth over of Pakistan's innings during their run chase in the series decider. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Javed Miandad are the other Pakistani cricketers to score 15,000 or more runs in international cricket.

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Across 329 international matches, Babar has now amassed 15,004 runs at an average of 45.46, including 31 centuries and 104 half-centuries, with a highest score of 196.

Most runs by a Pakistan player in international cricket:

1 - Inzamam-ul-Haq: 20580 runs in 499 matches

2 - Younis Khan: 17790 runs in 408 matches

3 - Mohammad Yousuf: 17300 runs in 381 matches

4 - Javed Miandad: 16213 runs in 357 matches

5 - Babar Azam: 15004 runs in 329 matches

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Notably, Babar had a disappointing performance in the three-match ODI series against the Proteas as he managed to score only 45 runs at an average of 15.

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson, however, said that while Babar is understandably frustrated, he believes a big score is just around the corner. "He'd be as frustrated as anyone, but I don't mind one or two heading to Rawalpindi in search of big runs," Hesson said after the third and final match.

Hesson was pleased with Babar's performance in the Test series, even though he didn't score big. "The way he was moving, striking the ball and hitting the gaps - he's really playing nicely at the moment," said Hesson.

Mentioning advice for the former skipper Babar to keep his focus on capitalising on the starts, Hesson said: "He's in the kind of form where those starts will soon start converting. The more he worries about converting them, the less likely it'll happen.'

This strategy shift is aimed at helping Babar get back into his groove and score big runs soon."

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