Babar Azam hits fifty against Sri Lanka, but wait for Test century enters 41st innings

Pakistan's Test team is currently playing under Babar Azam's captaincy. The side has been winning some and losing some, but the captain's bat has not produced what everyone is waiting for. His drought of Test centuries has not ended, and it has now brought him a new record.

Pakistan are playing a Test series against Sri Lanka. In the first match, Pakistan are batting first. Captain Babar Azam looked in good rhythm in the first innings and also hit a fine half-century. He could not convert it into a big innings, a century. He played a valuable knock of 50 off 58 balls and was then dismissed.

The innings has added a record he probably did not want. Among Pakistan batsmen, Babar is now joint third for the most Test innings played without a century. Ramiz Raja tops the list with 74 innings. He is followed by Yasir Hameed, who played 47 innings without a century. Babar Azam and Asif Mujtaba are jointly on 41 innings.

Babar has not scored a single century in his last 41 innings, which has started a discussion about his form. There is now hope that he will break this record by scoring a hundred in the next innings or in the next few matches.

Despite the lack of a century, Babar has crossed a major milestone in international cricket. As Pakistan captain, he has scored 50 or more 70 times across all formats. The Pakistani record for the most 50-plus scores in international cricket as captain belonged to former captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who played 70 innings of 50 or more during his captaincy. With this innings against Sri Lanka, Babar has equalled Misbah's record.

Pakistan's playing XI comprises Azan Awais, Muhammad Tayyab Arif, Mohammad Taha, Babar Azam (captain), Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Arafat Minhas, Razaullah, Mohammad Abbas and Saqib Khan.

Sri Lanka's playing XI comprises Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis (wicketkeeper and captain), Sonal Dinusha, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.