Pathan, Ashwin, two ex-India cricketers can't keep calm after Babar Azam shatters multiple records vs Nepal in Asia Cup

 During the Asia Cup opening against Nepal, Babar Azam broke several records, which made both present and former Indian cricketers swoon over the Pakistani captain.

Former cricketers Irfan Pathan, Aakash Chopra, and Deep Dasgupta, as well as all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin of India, could not contain their joy as they saw Babar Azam casually smash numerous records. With a dominant victory against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener, No. 1 ODI team Pakistan and No. 1 ODI batter Babar Azam defended their rankings. In many ways, it was a momentous occurrence. After 15 years, Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup. Nepal was competing in the event for the first time in the opening game of the Asia Cup in Multan. But when Pakistan's batting was through, Babar made sure that he was the centre of attention at all times.

Babar began his innings with a beautiful flick off his pads that sped away to the boundary after entering the batting lineup after Pakistan lost opener Fakhar Zaman early. If there was ever a foreshadowing of what was to follow, there was it. With the new ball, Nepal maintained the pressure. Babar did not even blink when Imam-ul-Haq was run out and the scoreboard read 24/2. Of course, he had his most dependable ally in Mohammad Rizwan at the other end as the seasoned pair began to construct the innings and absorbed the early pressure.

Although Babar lost Rizwan to an odd run-out and Agha Salman only batted for 14 balls, the Pakistani captain carried on as usual. He took his time before scoring his century off 109 balls, which was his 19th in ODIs and broke Hashim Amla's record for fastest century in 102 innings. The South African had 104 innings under his belt. If you're curious, it took Kohli 124 innings to score 19 ODI hundreds.

The century also put Babar one short of Saeed Anwar's 20 ODI centuries, a record for Pakistan.

Babar came in at 151. This was the second-highest total by a player in the Asia Cup, trailing only Virat Kohli's 183 against Pakistan in 2012.

Together, Babar and Iftikhar Ahmed made 214 runs for the fifth wicket. Iftikhar Ahmed also produced a magnificent century. The partnership was the highest for Pakistan for the fifth wicket or lower and the highest for any wicket in an ODI.

Here are the reactions of present and former Indian cricketers after Babar's record-breaking performance.

"Babar Azam once again demonstrating his talent with a stunning 100 He's in a league of his own when it comes to scoring runs, according to Irfan Pathan.

https://twitter.com/IrfanPathan/status/1696870675284377961?t=UpbKzePTAaoOA201uUdzSg&s=19