Babar Azam’s incredibly long dry run has made the former Pakistan captain the subject of multiple jokes and headlines but the 31-year-old has recently shown signs of a revival. Playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League, Babar is the highest run scorer so far in the season having made 588 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 146.26 and average of 84. He scored his second century in four matches on Tuesday and with that, he equalled a record was held jointly by India’s Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma.
Babar’s 103 in 59 balls was his eighth T20 century in matches played in Pakistan. That is level with Kohli and Abhishek for most centuries by a player in a single country in men’s T20s.
It was also Babar’s fourth PSL century, which makes him the joint-most prolific centurion in the PSL along with Usman Khan. Additionally, this was Babar’s ninth century as a captain of a team in the format. It broke the record held by Faf du Plessis and he now has the most centuries as a captain in men’s T20s.
Babar’s form in the PSL comes after he was dropped from the Pakistan team that played in the 2026 T20 World Cup, which itself happened after an exceptionally poor run in his first Big Bash League season. In 11 innings that he played for the Sydney Sixers, Babar had scored just 202 runs at a measly strike rate of 103.06 and average of 22.44.
This was only a continuation of Babar’s downturn in all formats of the game. His last T20I century was in April 2023. He scored an unbeaten 102 against Sri Lanka in November 2025 in Rawalpindi and that was his first ODI century in well over two years. In Test cricket, Babar hasn’t been able to score a century since December 2022. Pakistan’s newly appointed Test head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, who captained Babar in his early years in international cricket, backed the latter to come good in the format considering how he is performing in the PSL. Pakistan’s next assignment in the format will be a two-match series in Bangladesh from May 8.
