Mohammad Rizwan-led Pakistan began the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign with a match against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi. Star batter and former captain Babar Azam scored 64 runs off 90 balls. On Wednesday, 19 February, he became only the second Pakistani batsman to score a century of fifties in his career. Since his debut on the international scene for Pakistan with a one-day match against Zimbabwe on May 31, 2015, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, he has scored 29 half-centuries in 59 Test matches, 35 half-centuries in 127 ODIs, and played 128 T20 internationals for Pakistan.
It is only one former captain and legendary cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq’s hundred half-centuries which Babar has beaten in international matches to be an Indian Green. Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs with Pakistan for 16 years and scored 46 and 83 fifties, respectively.
Most 50s for Pakistan:
| Player | Matches Played |
|---|---|
| Inzamam-ul-Haq | 129 |
| Babar Azam | 100 |
| Mohammad Yousuf | 95 |
| Javed Miandad | 93 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | 84 |
| Younis Khan | 83 |
| Saleem Malik | 76 |
| Saeed Anwar | 68 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 64 |
| Shoaib Malik | 61 |
The record for scoring the most half-centuries in international cricket belongs to the former India batter Sachin Tendulkar. He served India for over 24 years and scored 164 fifties in 664 matches followed in the list by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka (153), Jacques Kallis of South Africa and Rahul Dravid of India (146 each), Ricky Ponting of Australia (146), and Virat Kohli of India (142).
Babar Azam became the 21st world’s player to record 100 or more half-centuries in international cricket.
Babar Azam was defeated in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 by New Zealand by 60 runs. The Kiwis batted first on the command of captain Rizwan, riding on centuries from Will Young (107) and Tom Latham (118 not out) to post 320 for 6, dismissing the defending champions by hosts for 260 in 47.2 overs. For Pakistan, along with Babar, Khushdul Shah scored 69 runs off 49 balls.
Read Also:- Will Young’s Stunning Century Guides New Zealand in ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Despite his first half-century as an opening batter for Pakistan in ODIs, Babar faced a lot of criticism from fans and experts on Wednesday due to his slow knock. In the run chase of 321 runs, Babar played with a strike rate of 71.11 and only managed to score six fours and one six.
