Babar Azam equals Sir Viv Richards' world record

Babar reached the milestone after reaching 47 not out in third ODI against Australia

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: Pakistani batsman Babar Azam has become the joint-fastest player to score 1,000 career runs in one-day international cricket.

Babar entered the club after equalling a record that was first set 37 years ago. He completed 1,000 career runs after reaching 47 not out against Australia in Perth today in the third one-day international between Pakistan and Australia.

With this, Babar has joined the greats such as West Indies' Sir Vivian Richards, England pair Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott and South Africa's Quinton de Kock in reaching the milestone in 21 innings.



To break the record first set by Richards in 1980, the 22-year-old needed to score 114 runs to reach 1,000 runs in the first two matches. However, Babar managed to score 33 and 34 in the two games played earlier. This maintained the unequaled status of legendary Richards in ODI.

Richards continues to remain the only player to reach a milestone of 1,000 runs in 20th innings of his career in ODI cricket. But ODI cricket has transformed dramatically since the turn of the millennium.

Babar, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2015, had played only a few promising knocks but came to prominence in the series against the West Indies last October. Babar scored three centuries 120, 123 and 117 in the space of eight days against the Caribbeans, becoming the second player after de Kock to amass three hundreds in a three-match series.



His tally of 360 runs besides being a record also helped to propel him into the Test side for the first time. However, after scoring sensational 69 on his debut and 90 against New Zealand last November, he will enter Pakistan's next Test assignment with an average of just 27 after managing just 68 runs in their Test series defeat earlier in the summer.