Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has said that his ‘net sessions’ with ace Pakistan batter Babar Azam helped the latter regain form and score his first international hundred after a gap of over
two years, which he scored against Sri Lanka in their ongoing ODI series.
A day after Babar snapped his two-year hundred drought, Pietersen put up a playful post on his X handle. In the picture, the latter is seen standing next to Babar beside a bowling machine at a practice facility.
Pietersen paired the picture with a cheeky caption, taking credit for Babar’s match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka.
“My net session with @babarazam258 definitely helped him get his flow back and scoring 100s again,” Pietersen tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
My net session with @babarazam258 definitely helped him get his flow back and scoring 100s again! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/FL8Mibwol3
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) November 15, 2025
Babar notched an unbeaten 102 for his 20th ODI hundred to help Pakistan overtake Sri Lanka’s 289-run target at Rawalpindi Stadium.
Walking in to a roar after Saim Ayub fell for 33 in the 10th over, Babar unfurled his trademark cover drives. He brought up his hundred with a pulled single off Pramod Madushan, lifted his bat to salute the crowd and bowed to the ground in celebration.
Babar had gone 33 ODI innings without a century and 82 innings in all, including Tests and T20Is.
Babar added a 100-run partnership for the second wicket with Fakhar Zaman, who scored an aggressive 78 with A six and eight fours to set up a successful chase.
Building on the platform, Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 51*, added another 112 for the unbroken third wicket partnership with Babar, hitting the winning single.
Babar cracked eight fours while Rizwan’s innings had a six and five fours.
“I was also waiting for my century, so I am thankful to the Almighty. It is more delightful that it has come in the team’s win,” Babar said.
