Babar Azam arrives in Rawalpindi on Friday with a record within reach. One more ODI century against Australia would put him alone at the top of Pakistan's list, moving him past Saeed Anwar and into sole possession of a national mark they currently share.
That is why his name is being searched now. Babar and Anwar are tied on 20 ODI hundreds, and Babar reached that total in 140 matches and 137 innings, a pace that underlines how quickly he has climbed into Pakistan's batting history. He has 6,501 ODI runs in all, with an average of 53.72, a strike rate of 87.16, 37 fifties and a highest score of 158.
The timing gives the matchup extra weight. Pakistan's first ODI against Australia is the stage, and Rawalpindi the setting, where a single innings could redraw one corner of the country's record book. Babar is already Pakistan's 11th-highest ODI run-scorer, but the century count is the figure hanging over this series because it could be changed immediately, not someday later.
There is also recent form behind the moment. Before the ODI series, Babar led Peshawar Zalmi to victory in the Pakistan Super League and struck 588 runs in 11 innings at an average of 73.50 and a strike rate of 145.90. That run included two centuries, three fifties and a top score of 103, which is the sort of rhythm that makes a record chase feel less like a possibility than a question of when it lands.
And yet the record is not his until he makes the next step. Babar and Anwar remain level on 20 ODI centuries, so the milestone that would separate them still depends on one more innings of the kind Babar has made a career from. Friday gives him the chance to do it in front of home supporters against a strong Australia side; it also leaves one straightforward question for the opening ODI: whether he converts the chance into the century that finally stands alone.
