Mohammad Babar Azam is a Pakistani cricketer who is currently ranked as the best batsman in Twenty20 Internationals. He is the captain of Pakistan’s T20I squad and the vice-captain of the One Day International team.
Babar Azam was born in the Punjabi city of Lahore on October 15, 1994. He bats with his right hand and bowls with his right arm off-break. He is the team’s opening batsman, which is his primary position.
Records
Babar Azam’s success has had a major effect on cricket, and he currently holds many records, including:
In one-day international cricket, he is the second-fastest Pakistani batsman to cross 1000 runs (21 innings).
In ODI cricket, he is also the first Pakistani batsman to hit 2000 runs (45 innings). He shares the record with Kevin Pietersen and Zaheer Abbas.
Babar Azam still holds the record for being the first Asian batsman to cross 3000 runs in one-day international cricket (68 innings).
In addition, he holds the record for most runs scored in the first 25 innings of his career (1306 runs)
Babar Azam is the only cricketer in history to score five centuries in a row for the same country (United Arab Emirates).
Babar is the fastest batsman in ODI history, having scored seven centuries in seven games (33 innings).
He is also the first batsman in T20 Internationals to cross 1000 runs (26 innings)
Babar Azam is also the Pakistani cricketer who has scored the most runs in a single World Cup (474 runs in 2019 World Cup).
In 2016, 2017, and 2019, he was Pakistan’s highest ODI scorer.
In 2018 and 2019, Babar Azam was Pakistan’s leading Test scorer.
Awards and Accolades
In terms of Pakistani cricket, Babar Azam has been a phenomenal player in recent years. He was named to the 2017 ICC World XI and has won the PCB Player of the Year award two years in a row. Babar won the award from PCB in 2017 for his outstanding performance in One Day Internationals, and he received it again in 2018 for his outstanding performance in T20 Internationals.
Career
Domestic Career
In 2010, Babar Azam debuted for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, marking the start of his first-class career. In the 2010 Qaid e Azam Trophy, he made his First-Class debut against National Bank Limited on December 10, 2010. The match ended in a draw despite his 54 runs off 114 balls.
In his List A debut at Multan in the Royal Bank of Scotland Cup, he hit a half-century, which proved crucial to his team’s victory. However, on December 1, 2012, he made his T20 debut for Lahore Eagles against Hyderabad Hawks in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup in Lahore.
Club Career
Babar Azam has played in franchise competitions with a variety of cricket clubs. In the Pakistan Super League, he represents Karachi Kings, and in English County Cricket, he represents Somerset. He has previously played in the Bangladesh Premier League for Sylhet Sixers and Rangpur Riders.
He has played in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League for Guyana Amazon Warriors and the 2016 Pakistan Super League for Islamabad United.
International Career
On May 31, 2015, Babar made his One Day International debut in Lahore against a comparatively weaker Zimbabwean team. On his debut, he scored 54 runs, but the match ended in a draw. He did, however, retain his accuracy in matches and went on to become one of Pakistan’s most consistent batsmen in limited-overs cricket.
He became the fastest Pakistani batsman to reach 1000 runs in just 21 innings, and went on to become the fastest Pakistani batsman to hit 2000 and 3000 runs. He scored 46 runs in his first international competition, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, to help Pakistan win the trophy.
On October 13, 2016, Babar Azam made his Test debut against the West Indies in Dubai. His team prevailed by 56 runs after he scored 69 runs in the first innings and 21 runs in the second innings. He is one of the few players to make their Test debut in a Day/Night Test match with this debut.
In the last five innings, he has scored 397 runs, which is a fantastic performance. In 2019, he was Pakistan’s top scorer in the longest version of the tournament. Three of his four Test centuries have come this year, at critical points in the respective matches.
He was granted a chance to play in the only T20I match against England on September 7, 2016, after showing outstanding batsmanship in One Day Internationals. Due to the limited mark, Babar scored an unbeaten 15 runs in the match, and Pakistan won by 9 wickets.
Babar, on the other hand, proved to be a reliable batsman in the shortest version of the game, scoring back-to-back runs. He has 12 half-centuries to his credit, with the highest score of 97 runs, and a batting average of more than 50, making him one of the best T20I batsmen in the world.
Captaincy
Babar Azam, who took over as captain of the Pakistani T20I team recently, has only led the team in one series, which ended in a loss. He has, however, led the U19 squad in 21 matches, winning 13 of them. In the 2018 and 2019 seasons, he also captained his home side, Central Punjab, in the National T20 Championship.
Family
Azam Siddique’s son is Babar Azam. He is a nephew of Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, and Adnan Akmal, and comes from a cricketing background. Safeer Azam is his younger brother.