Babar’s return to form speaks of his patience, resilience and self-belief. Calm and classy, Babar never allowed criticism and negative feedback – that at times turned derogatory – to overwhelm his confidence and motivation, and remained focused on his goal of getting back to form. Through his triumphant knock against Sri Lanka, the right-handed batsman proved that elegance is as good a match-winning trait in limited overs cricket as flamboyance, and that Team Pakistan does need a cool campaigner like him to play a sheet anchor role.
Babar’s long-awaited century came shattering quite a few records. The former captain now has 20 ODI centuries under his belt – the most by a Pakistan player alongside the legendary Saeed Anwar. He now holds the record for most ODI centuries – eight – on home soil, surpassing Mohammad Yousuf’s seven. Babar scored his 20th ODI century in his 136th inning, becoming the third-fastest after Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli, who achieved the feat in 108 and 133 innings respectively.
While Babar Azam has proved that class is permanent and form temporary, he is expected to show consistency, apart from developing power-hitting skill in keeping with the demands of the modern-day cricket.