Babar Azam, by listening the name, the whole world gets excited because of knowing a country, which known to produce dangerous fast bowlers suddenly produce a classy and technically perfect batsman. Mohammad Babar Azam is a top order batsman of Pakistan. Now, he is ranked as the top-rated batsman in Twenty20 internationals. Also, Babar Azam is the vice-captain of One Day International team as well as Twenty20I team captain of Pakistan.

The ferocious batsman of Pakistan, Babar Azam has become the answer of Pakistan to their batting woes. All we know that Pakistan has always been famous for its aggressive bowlers. Batsmen are also there but the consistency of batsmen has been a main concern of Pakistan. In almost every game, in which Babar Azam includes, the Pakistan squad has some relief. For quite some time, Babar Azam has been performing outstanding innings. But the world of cricket notices this batsman in the West Indies-Pakistan series. The heroic batting of Babar Azam helped Pakistan to whitewash the West Indies team at 3-0.

In the year 2017, when Babar Azam introduced his 5^th One day international century in his 25^th innings against West Indies, he became the second fastest Quinton De Kock to score five ODI centuries. His outstanding aggregates of 1306 runs after playing 25 innings became equal with the highest, overcoming Jonathan Trott’s numbers. Now, indeed life of Babar Azam has been on the fast tracks. His mesmerizing three successive ODI centuries in 2016 against West Indies in the UAE were a pioneer to one magnificent career that looks at us.

Babar Azam was born on October 15 in the year 1994 at Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. He is an extra ordinary right-handed batsman as well as a right-arm-off-break bowler. In the Pakistan team, he plays as an opener, who has most responsibility.  Azam Siddique is his father. His brother name is Safeer Azam. Babar Azam comes from cricket background family. He is  cousin of Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal and Adnan Akmal.

Babar Azam – Along the Years

International Debut:

Test: On 13th October 2016 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium against West Indies

ODI: On 31st May 2015 at Gaddafi Stadium against Zimbabwe

T20I: On 7th September 2016 at Emirates Old Trafford against England

Career Turning Point: When Babar Azam won the Man of the Match award in a One Day International match by scoring 120 runs off 131 balls against West Indies.

Jersey Number: #56 (Pakistan)

Major Teams: Pakistan, Islamabad United, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Karachi Kings, Pakistan Under-15s, Pakistan Under-19s, Pakistan Under-23s, Pakistan A,  Rawalpindi Rams, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Sui Southern Gas Corporation

Career

Babar Azam’s career is very bright and he has played a number of matches both inside and out of Pakistan. Since his school days, at a very young age, 13, Babar Azam started playing professional cricket.

Domestic Career

In the year 2010, Babar Azam was debuted his first-class career by playing for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. On 10th December 2010, He played first-class cricket for the first time in the 2010 Qaid e Azam Trophy against National Bank Limited. In that match, he scored 54 runs off 114 deliveries but the game was concluded with a draw.

In his List A first match, Babar Azam made a half-century in the Royal Bank of Scotland Cup at Multan, which was remembered as a crucial victory of the Pakistan team. However, he made his debut in the Twenty20 match in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup for Lahore Eagles at Lahore against Hyderabad Hawks on December 1st, 2012.

ODI Career

Babar Azam played his first international One Day International match on May 31st, 2015 against a comparatively weaker Zimbabwe team at Lahore. In that match, Babar Azam scored 54 runs, which is concluded with a draw. But, he maintained his superb consistency throughout the tournament and become one of the most promising batsmen in limited-overs cricket for Pakistan National cricket team.

Babar Azam has crossed a huge 1000 run mark in only 21 innings and became the quickest batsman of Pakistan to cross 2000 as well as 3000 runs marks. In the year 2017, in his debut international tournament, ICC Champions trophy, Babar Azam made 46 runs which helped the Pakistan team to win the title and lift the trophy.

Test Career

Babar Azam played his first Test match on October 13, 2016, in Dubai against West Indies. In that match, he made 69 runs in the first innings, and in the second innings, he scored 21 runs, and Pakistan won the Test by 56 runs. With this debut of Babar Azam, he has included in the list of those certain players, who have played their first match in Day/Night Test match.

In these few years, Babar Azam became a fantastic performer and in the last 5 innings, he has made 397 runs. In the year 2019, Babar Azam has been the highest run-getter for the Pakistan team in the longest format of cricket .i.e. Test cricket. Out of his 4 tons in Test matches, 3 of them have scored in the year 2019 at vital stages in the respective matches.

T20I Career

Having some outstanding expertise with the bat in ODIs, Babar Azam was provided an opportunity to play in the only Twenty20 match on September 7, 2016, against the team of England. In that T20 match, he scored 15 runs and remained unbeaten and the team of Pakistan won the match owing to the small target by 9 runs.

However, Babar Azam turned out to be a stable cricketer with the bat in T20Is, the shortest format of cricket, and continuously went on to make back to back huge numbered runs. Till now, he has made 12 half-centuries to his name with a best top score of 97 runs. His batting average is more than 50, which makes him one of the most successful T20I batsmen all over the world.

Club Career

The star player of Pakistan, Babar Azam has played for different cricket clubs in many franchise tournaments. In the Pakistan Super League (PSL), he plays for Karachi Kings and in the Bangladesh Premier League, Babar Azam plays for Rangpur Riders & Sylhet Sixers.

In the year 2017, Caribbean Premier League, Babar Azam played for Guyana Amazon Warriors and in Pakistan Super League, 2016, he played for Islamabad United.

Captaincy

Now, Babar Azam has taken the mentorship responsibility of the T20I team of Pakistan and has led the squad in a single match which had critical results. But previously, he has led the under-19 team in 21 numbers of matches and has won 13 times out of them.  Also, Babar Azam has done captaincy for Central Punjab, his home team in the National Twenty20 Championship in 2018 as well as in the 2019 season.

Batting Career Summary

Bowling Career Summary

Fielding Career Summary

Records

Babar Azam has made a tremendous impact in this cricketing era by his bold performances and he has named several records to his name, such as:

1. Babar Azam is the second-fastest batsman of Pakistan, who could reach 1000 runs mark in One Day International cricket in 21 innings.
2. Also, he is the fastest batsman of Pakistan to acquire 2000 runs mark in One Day International cricket in 45 innings. He holds this fastest batsman record with two legends Kevin Pietersen and Zaheer Abbas.
3. By playing 68 innings in ODI Cricket, Babar Azam became the fastest batsman in Asia to reach 3000 runs mark.
4. Also, the record of holding maximum runs (1306 runs) in the first 25 innings inscribed to his name.
5. Babaz Azam is the only batsman, who scored 5 back to back centuries in one country (United Arab Emirates)
6. Babar Azam is also the fastest batsman to record 7 One Day International centuries in 33 innings.
7. In Twenty20 internationals, he is the fastest batsman to score 1000 runs mark in 26 innings.
8. Babar Azam has scored the maximum runs (474 runs in 2019 World Cup) mark for Pakistan in any World Cup.
9. For continuous 2016, 2017, and 2019, Babar Azam has been the top One Day International run-getter for Pakistan.
10. In 2018 as well as 2019, he becomes the highest Test run-getter for the team of Pakistan.

Awards and Accolades

As far as Pakistani Cricket is concerned, Babar Azam has been an excellent cricketer these days. For the ICC World XI, 2017, he was nominated and has been the Pakistan Cricket Board Player of the year consecutively for two years. In the year 2017, Babar Azam was awarded by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his tremendous performance in ODI cricket whereas, in the year 2018, he got the same award for his splendid performance in Twenty20 internationals.

Interesting facts about Babar Azam:

It will be very fascinating to observe how Babar Azam improves over the years. Since his age-group days, he has been a huge exposure. He is the solution to the middle-order batting issues of Pakistan. In spite of his records & achievements, many people don’t know much about him. So, here are some interesting facts about Babar Azam:

1. Roots, beginnings, and links:

At a very young age, Babar Azam initiated playing cricket. He has links with the cricketing world. Babar Azam is the cousin brother of Akmal brothers- Umar Akmal, Karran Akmal & Adnan Akmal.

2. Boost in age-group cricket:

Babar Azam rose very frequently through the age-group cricket. He was selected in the Under-19 cricket team of Pakistan to play in the tri-series tournament, 2009. This tournament was held among Bangladesh U19, Pakistan U19, and Sri Lanka U19. In this tournament Babar Azam’s performance was terrific. In 4 matches, he scored 213 runs with an average of 53.25. He scored highest 127 runs against Sri Lanka U19.

3. Exceptional 2010 season:

In the year 2010, Babar Azam earned 298 runs by playing 6 games for the Pakistan U19 team. His average run rate was 59.60 in that year.

4. Rewarded with Domestic call up:

Babar Azam included the List A for the first time to play for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited after an outstanding performance in the Under-19 game against Pakistan Customs. In that inning, Babar Azam scored 68 runs off 78 deliveries as an opener with Imran Nazir. Also, he played his first FC for the same team against the National Bank of Pakistan in which he scored 53 runs.

5. Gets the captaincy role:

Because of his extraordinary performance in the U-19 games, Babar Azam was appointed as the captain of the Under19 team of Pakistan for the ICC U19 World Cup. In this tournament, Pakistan was able to reach the Super League stage where they defeated against team India by only 1 run.

6. Highest run-getter for Pakistan U19:

Babar Azam is not only proved himself as one of the impressive captains for the U19 squad but also became the top run-getter in the ICC U19 World Cup by scoring 298 runs. He impressed everyone with his super 75 runs against Afghanistan U19 team in the first match of the tournament.

7. A half-century on international debut too:

Babar Azam played his first ODI match on May 31st, 2015 in Lahore against Zimbabwe. In that match, he came to the pitch at no.4 and scored 54 runs in just 60 deliveries. But that match was cancelled because of rain.

8. On a storm – West Indies feel the spark:

In the year 2016, Babar Azam had put an excellent effort to whitewash team West Indies 3-0, which helped him to enter to the record books. He became the 3rd player of Pakistan team and 7th player in all over the world to score 3 successive ODI centuries. The 21 years old, mini bomb of Pakistan became the 2nd youngest player to score three back to back ODI centuries. In 3 matches, he amassed 360 runs at an average rate of 120. In a 3 match bilateral series, Babar Azam remains the maximum scorer.

9. Unique record to his name:

At the time of the West Indies tour of UAE, a record was done by Babar Azam. In the 3-match series, he scored 3 successive tons. He scored 120, 123 and 117 runs in that tournament. He became the first player to score his debut 3 tons in back to back innings.

10. On verge of breaking another record:

In case Babar Azam would score another 114 runs in his next 2 matches, he will be the fastest batsman to accomplish 100 runs in the history of ODI. In 18 innings, he had scored 886 runs. Before him, Jonathan Trott, Sir Viv Richards, Quinton de Kock and, Kevin Pietersen hold the record in 21 innings.

11. Gets the Test call-up:

For his spectacular performance in ODI matches, Babar Azam was able to wear the Test cap at the time of the first-ever day-night Test match. In 2016, he played his first Test match against the team of West Indies.

12. Admires Mr. 360:

Babar Azam always admires AB de Villiers of South Africa and wishes to be like him.

13. The gym lover:

Babar Azam takes his gym activity very seriously and keeps posting his gym updates on his social media platforms.