Every fan knows Babar Azam as Pakistan’s run-machine, but the Asia Cup tells a different, messier story than his career numbers suggest.
Across three editions and two formats, Babar has swung between a tournament-defining 151 and a string of single-digit failures.
This isn’t just a stats dump, it’s a look at why the Asia Cup has been Babar Azam’s most unpredictable stage.
Babar Azam Asia Cup Stats: Career Overview
Before diving into the story behind the numbers, here’s the full breakdown of Babar Azam’s Asia Cup career across all three editions he has featured in, 2018 (ODI), 2022 (T20I), and 2023 (ODI).
| Edition | Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Cup 2018 | ODI | 5 | 5 | 156 | 31.20 | 66 | 0 | 0 |
| Asia Cup 2022 | T20I | 6 | 6 | 68 | 11.33 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Asia Cup 2023 | ODI | 5 | 4 | 207 | 51.75 | 151 | 1 | 0 |
| Career Total | Both | 16 | 15 | 431 | ~28.7 | 151 | 1 | 0 |
The average dips sharply because of his 2022 slump, but the highs, particularly 2023, are among the best individual innings the tournament has ever seen.
Babar Azam Asia Cup Stats: The 2018 Debut (ODI Format)
Babar’s first Asia Cup came in the 2018 UAE edition, where Pakistan reached the final but lost to India. His numbers here were solid but unspectacular:
- 33 off 36 vs Hong Kong
- 47 off 62 vs India in the group stage
- 66 off 94 — his top score of the tournament — vs Afghanistan, chasing 258
- 9 off 25, run out, vs India in the Super Four
- A quiet failure against Bangladesh to close out the campaign
He finished with 156 runs at an average of 31.20, a respectable start, but nowhere near the destructive form fans associate with him today.
Babar Azam Asia Cup Stats: The 2022 Slump (T20I Format)
If 2018 was steady, 2022 was Babar Azam’s toughest Asia Cup by far. Leading Pakistan to the final, he simply couldn’t get going with the bat:
- 10 vs India
- 9 vs Hong Kong
- 14 vs India (Super Four)
- 0 vs Afghanistan (Super Four)
- 30 vs Sri Lanka (Super Four) — his only notable score
- 5 vs Sri Lanka in the final, as Pakistan lost by 23 runs
Six innings, just 68 runs, and an average of 11.33. This slump is the reason his overall Asia Cup average looks so ordinary compared to his ODI and T20I career numbers, and it’s a stretch most highlight reels conveniently skip.
Babar Azam Asia Cup Stats: The 2023 Redemption (ODI Format)
Then came 2023, and Babar Azam delivered the single greatest innings of his Asia Cup career. Opening the tournament against Nepal in Multan, he smashed 151 off 131 balls, laced with 14 fours and 4 sixes.
Records broken in that innings alone:
- Second-highest individual score in Asia Cup history, behind only Virat Kohli’s 183 vs Pakistan (2012)
- First captain ever to score 150+ in an Asia Cup match
- Fastest player in history to reach 19 ODI centuries (in just 102 innings, beating Hashim Amla’s 104)
- Part of a 214-run stand with Iftikhar Ahmed — the highest partnership for any wicket by Pakistan in ODIs at the time
- Pushed his ODI average to 59.47, the fourth-highest of all time among players with 2,000+ ODI runs
He didn’t sustain that form through the rest of the tournament, managing modest scores in the Super Four against Bangladesh and India, but that single knock cemented his place among the tournament’s all-time great innings.
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli: Asia Cup Numbers Side by Side
No Babar Azam Asia Cup conversation is complete without the inevitable Kohli comparison, since the two share the tournament’s top individual scores.
| Player | Highest Asia Cup Score | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 183 off 148 | 2012 | vs Pakistan |
| Babar Azam | 151 off 131 | 2023 | vs Nepal |
Kohli still holds the record, but Babar’s innings stands out for one reason Kohli’s doesn’t: it came from a captain, under the pressure of a tournament opener, against a side desperate to make its Asia Cup debut count.
While Babar delivered when Pakistan needed him most, Virat Kohli’s Asia Cup records continue to set the benchmark for consistency, run-scoring, and match-winning performances in the tournament’s history.
Babar Azam’s Asia Cup Records at a Glance
- Highest score: 151 vs Nepal (2023) — 2nd highest in Asia Cup history
- Most runs in a single edition: 207 (2023)
- Best average in an edition: 51.75 (2023)
- Worst edition by average: 2022 T20 Asia Cup (11.33)
- Centuries: 1 (vs Nepal, 2023)
- Fifties: 0 — a surprising gap given his overall ODI record
- Finals played: 2 (2018, 2022) — both ended in defeat for Pakistan
Why Babar Azam’s Asia Cup Record Doesn’t Match His Reputation
Here’s the angle most stat pages miss: Babar Azam’s Asia Cup average (~28.7) sits well below his career ODI average (over 56) and his career T20I average (over 40).
For a batter regarded as one of the most consistent in the world, the Asia Cup has been his most volatile tournament, he either delivers a career-defining knock or goes missing for entire campaigns. Zero fifties in 16 innings, despite a century, tells its own story: with Babar, it’s often all or nothing on Asian cricket’s biggest stage.
FAQs
Three — 2018 (ODI), 2022 (T20I), and 2023 (ODI).
151 off 131 balls against Nepal in 2023, the second-highest individual score in Asia Cup history.
One, scored against Nepal in the 2023 edition.
No. Pakistan finished runners-up in both 2018 and 2022 under his captaincy, and were eliminated in the group stage in 2023.
