The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is truly the summit of this sport. It is a stage where legacies are made or ruined: a cauldron where the best talent in the world collides against the best in the business to prove their mettle and carve out their legend.
Babar Azam Record in World Cup
| Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | Avg | S/R | 50/100 | HS | 4s | 6s |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | 474 | 67.71 | 87.77 | 3/1 | 101* | 50 | 2 |
Pakistan's current skipper Babar Azam knows a thing or two about doing the same, after all, it was in the previous edition the this very tournament that the classy batsman announced himself to the cricketing world with a slew of consistent performances.
Having made his ODI debut in 2015, Babar asserted himself as one of the lynchpins of the Pakistani batting-unit by the time the 2019 event came on the horizon.
The tournament provided young Babar a golden opportunity to showcase his talent to the hilt against the best in the world.
But, just like his team, Babar proved to be a slow-starter as he managed just 1 50+ score (63 off 66 vs England) in his first 4 outings, which included underwhelming performance against Australia (30 off 28) and arch-rivals, India (48 off 57).
With his side under the pump after having managed just 1 win in 4 outings, the onus was on Babar to lead the batting-unit from the front, and he did that with disdain.
In the next game against New Zealand, Azam played one of the best knocks of his career thus far, scoring a classy unbeaten 127-ball 101* to lead Pakistan past the finishing line in the tricky run-chase of 238.
Azam continued leading from the front as he backed up it with match-winning half-centuries against South Africa (69 off 80) and Bangladesh (96 off 98) to give his side the best possible chance of making it to the knockouts.
Click here to view Virat Kohli World Cup Career.
Babar eventually finished his World Cup campaign with 474 runs under belt at an average of 67.71 with the help of 3 half-centuries and 1 hundred.
In the process, he claimed the feat of scoring the most runs by a Pakistani batter in a single edition of a World Cup. The record was previously held by the legendary Javed Miandad, who scored 437 runs in his teams' triumphant 1992 World Cup campaign.
4 years on from that watershed event, Babar will enter his 2nd World Cup as the No.1 ranked ODI batsman in the world.
![[Watch] Babar Azam reacts furiously to 'ZimBabar' chants from the Multan Crowd in PSL 2024 clash](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/02/8e3a7-17087789156153-1920.jpg?h=166)
