Mohammad Babar Azam (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Pakistan national cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...

in all formats. Regarded as one of the finest batters in contemporary world cricket, he is the only cricketer in the world to be in the top five rankings across all formats. He is ranked as the number one batter in ODIs, number two in Tests and number four in T20Is. A right-handed top-order batter, he plays for and captains

Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi ( ur, ; ps, پېښور زلمي; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise T20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

in the PSL and Central Punjab in domestic cricket of Pakistan. With 40 wins, he is one of the most successful T20I captains of all time.

Early life

Babar Azam was born on 15 October 1994 into a

Punjabi Muslim Punjabi Muslims ( pa, ) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. Primarily geographically native to the Punjab province of Pakistan today, many have ancestry in the entire Punjab region, ...

family. He was born in the

Walled City A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

and recalls the memories of "playing cricket and roaming around like a free bird in those streets." His cousins

Kamran Kamran ( fa, کامران ''Kāmrān'') is a Persian male given name meaning 'prosperous, fortunate'. The name is commonly used in Iran and Azerbaijan, in addition to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, Pakistan. Variants include Kâmran and Kamu ...

and

Umar Akmal Umar Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 26 May 1990) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2009 and 2019. He was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for eighteen months for not disclosing offers related to spot ...

, who are older than him, were the reason he was attracted to cricket and their stories and success instilled inspiration in him. Therefore, he decided to take cricket as his profession. He had been a ball boy at

Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium ( ur, , translit=Qaẕẕāfī Isṭeḍiyam), previously known as Lahore Stadium is a cricket stadium in Lahore, Pakistan and the home ground of Lahore Qalandars. It is owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a capa ...

before joining a cricket academy and starting his domestic cricket career there and was present during the home series Pakistan played between 2006 and 2008. He sought guidance from Rana Sadiq, his first coach, who taught him in real terms, what batting is. Later, he went on to be a part of the Pakistan U-19 setup.

International career

Early career

In May 2015, Babar was included in the Pakistani ODI squad for home series against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut in the third ODI on 31 May and scored an impressive fifty scoring 54 runs off 60 balls. His impressive debut earned him a place in both Test and ODI squads selected for an away series against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He was not selected to play in the Test series. During the ODI series, he only scored 37 runs in the two matches that he played. Babar was included in the squad for the away ODI series against Zimbabwe in September 2015. He was retained in the ODI squad for the home series against England. In the first ODI of the four match series he scored 62 not out with a strike rate of 100 which helped Pakistan win the match. He had scores of 4, 22 and 51 in next three matches respectively. He finished the series with 139 runs at an average of 46.33. In January 2016, Pakistan toured New Zealand. In the first ODI match, Babar scored 62 runs off 76 balls. Pakistan lost the match by 70 runs. He was the leading run scorer in the ODI series with 145 runs in 2 innings at an average of 72.50. In the five-match ODI series against England in July, he batted in five games and only scored 122 runs. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

debut for Pakistan against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 7 September. He scored an unbeaten 15 runs off 11 balls. Pakistan won the match and series. Besides the England series, Pakistan played two match ODI series against Ireland. In the first ODI of the series, Pakistan beat Ireland by 255 runs and created record of their biggest win in terms of runs in an ODI. Babar contributed in his side's victory by scoring 29 runs. With the second and final ODI abandoned due to rain, Pakistan won the series 1–0.

Rise in shorter formats and breaking records

Babar Azam was selected in the home series against the West Indies in 2016. In the first match of the ODI series he scored his maiden international century, scoring 120 off 131 balls and winning his first man of the match award. In the second ODI, he scored another century, this time scoring 123 off 126 balls, and helping Pakistan to put up a total of more than 330. In the third and final ODI of the series Azam ended up scoring a third consecutive century (117 from 106). He also broke the record for scoring the most runs (360) in a three match ODI series. He became the only batsman to score 350+ runs in a three match ODI series. He made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut for Pakistan against the West Indies in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

on 13 October 2016 and scored 69 runs in his first innings. He was the first player to score a fifty on his Test debut through a day/night Test. On 19 January 2017, in the third ODI against Australia, Azam became then joint-fastest player to score 1,000 runs in ODIs and then fastest for Pakistan in his 21st innings before his national record and world record was eclipsed by his compatriot Fakhar Zaman.Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Fastest to 1000 runs | ESPN Cricinfo
Stats.espncricinfo.com, 1 February 2017. Retrieved 2017-2-01. He scored a century in the fifth ODI, which was only the second century ever scored by a Pakistani batsman in Australia after

Zaheer Abbas Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani PP, (in Punjabi and Urdu: سید ظہیر عباس کرمانی; born 24 July 1947), popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is among few professional cricketers who used to wear spectacles ...

in 1981. He also entered the top 10 batsmen's ranking in ODIs for the first time ever.

Sarfaraz Ahmed Sarfaraz Ahmed ( ur, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Pakistani professional cricketer, a wicketkeeper-batsman, who plays for the Pakistani national cricket team. He was the former captain of the Pakistan side in all formats. He leads Quetta Gladiato ...

replaced

Azhar Ali Azhar Ali ( ur, ; born 19 February 1985) is a Pakistani former international cricketer. He also captained Pakistan national team in Test and ODI cricket. Ali made his Test debut for Pakistan against Australia in the first Test at Lord's in ...

as Pakistan's ODI team captain against the West Indies after Azhar Ali stepped down from the captaincy after a humiliating defeat against Australia in ODI series. He scored an unbeaten 125 in the 2nd ODI of the three–match ODI series at

Providence Stadium The Providence Stadium or Guyana National Stadium is a sports stadium in Guyana, replacing Bourda as the national stadium. The stadium was built specifically to host Super Eight matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in March and April 2007. ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. Azam along with

Imad Wasim Syed Imad Wasim Haider (in Punjabi and ur, ; born 18 December 1988), commonly known as Imad Wasim, is a Pakistani international cricketer. He is a left-handed all-rounder. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a cen ...

put on an unbeaten 99 runs partnership which helped Pakistan to a total of 282. Meanwhile, Azam also broke the record of scoring the most runs after the first 25 ODI innings in this match.Most runs after first 25 ODI Innings
Geo News, 10 April 2017. Retrieved 2017-4-11. In the Champions Trophy 2017, Azam scored 46 off 52 balls in the final match against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. After a successful Champions trophy tour, ICC sent the World XI team in Pakistan where they played three T20I matches. Azam was the top runs-getter in the series, scoring 179. In the first T20I played at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, he scored 86 playing only 52 balls, and won his first Man of the match award in T20Is, helping Pakistan win the match by 20 runs. He had scores of 45 and 48 in the next two fixtures. In September 2017, he had a poor Test series against

, where he managed to score only 39 runs across 2 Test matches. In the second ODI he became the fastest batsman to score 7th ODI century in ODIs and the first batsman in ODI history to score five consecutive centuries in one country. He had scores of 30 and 69 (not out) in next two innings while chasing. He was the leading runs-scorer for Pakistan in 2016 in ODIs and T20Is with 872 and 352 runs respectively. At the 2017 PCB awards, he was awarded Pakistan's ODI Player of the year. He was also listed in 2017's ICC World ODI XI for the first time ever. Pakistan's first assignment in 2018 was tour to New Zealand. Babar was an automatic selection in the ODI team. However he could score only 0, 10, 8, 3, 10 across 5 innings, scoring only 31 runs at an average of 6.2 as Pakistan were whitewashed 5–0, his worst series until date. But performed well in the

T20I A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

series and contributed in team's winning the series 2–1. Babar was the leading run scorer with 109 runs. He had scores of 41, 50* and 18 in these T20Is. He became the no.1

batsmen, the second to reach the feat after

Misbah-ul-Haq ; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan in all formats and is former head coach and former chief selector of the Pakistan national team. A late bloomer, Misbah was a midd ...

, but soon slipped to no. 3 position. He regained no. 1 spot in the rankings after a successful series against

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, who were touring Pakistan after thirteen years. His best performance came in the second T20I where he scored an unbeaten 97 runs which won him Man of the match award. He finished the series as leading run-getter with 165 runs at an average of 82.50 and a strike rare of 148.64, and won the man of the series. Pakistan won the series 3–0.Babar, Fakhar lead Pakistan to 3–0. During a Test match against England in May 2018, Azam was struck on the arm without padding by a bouncer from Ben Stokes, when he was batting on 68. After an X-ray examination, it was confirmed that Azam had a fracture in his left wrist with a broken forearm. After fully recovering from his injury, he made his return to the side against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

in July for a five-match ODI series. He performed well and managed to score 184 runs at an average of 184 in 4 innings including 76 balls 106 runs in the final odi of the series. In September 2018, he was selected for 2018 Asia Cup held in

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

(UAE). Playing his first Asia Cup, he didn't have a good time of it, only managing to score 156 runs at an average of 31.20 in 5 matches. In November 2018, in the second Test against New Zealand, Azam scored his first century in Test cricket.

2019 Cricket World Cup

In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...

. The

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) named him as one of the five exciting talents making their Cricket World Cup debut. In May 2019, he was also signed by

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

as their overseas player for the 2019 t20 Blast. Just before the World Cup, Pakistan played against England in one-off T20I and 5-match ODI series to prepare for the tournament. In the T20I fixture he scored 65 from 42 balls before getting run-out. In the 5-match ODI series, he ended up as the joint leading runs-scorer, scoring 277 runs including a century and two half-centuries, going into the World Cup with runs under his belt. On 26 June 2019, in the match against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, Azam became the fastest batsman for Pakistan, in terms of innings, to score 3,000 runs in ODIs (68). In the same match, he also scored his 10th century in ODIs, finishing 101

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

, with Pakistan winning by 6 wickets. With this century, he also became the first middle-order batsman from Pakistan to hit a century in a World Cup match after 32 years. A week later, in the match against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, Babar broke

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (Urdu: ; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo desc ...

's record of the most runs by a Pakistani batsman in a single edition of the World Cup, scoring 474 runs in 8 innings.

Test performances and leadership roles

In September 2019, before the home series against Sri Lanka, he was named as the vice-captain of Pakistan cricket team in both ODIs and T20Is, on the back of his consistent performances in these formats. After the first ODI was washed out, Pakistan managed to win both of the remaining matches to clinch the series 2–0. He scored his 11th ton in the second ODI and became the fastest Pakistani player to reach 1,000 ODI runs in terms of innings in a calendar year beating the previous record of

.Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: Babar Azam becomes fastest Pakistan Batsman to score 1000 runs in a calendar Year
NDTV Sports, 30 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-9-30. In October 2019, he was named captain of the Pakistan cricket team in T20Is, ahead of the Australia series. In the first Test of the series, he scored his second Test century, against a strong bowling line up. He missed out on his second consecutive century when he was dismissed on 97 in the second Test match. He scored 210 runs with an average of 52.50. In December 2019, Sri Lanka returned to Pakistan for a two-match Test series. This marked the return of Test cricket in Pakistan after a decade's absence, with Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hosting the first Test match. Babar, batting in his first ever Test inning on home soil, scored an unbeaten quick-fire century on day 5 of the rain-affected match, resulting in a draw. In the Second Test, played at

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

, he scored 60 and 100 not out respectively, ending the series with 262 runs with an average of exactly 262. Pakistan won the match by 263 runs, winning the series 1–0. In January 2020, he was named in 2019's ICC World ODI XI, making the list for the second time. In January 2020, Bangladesh toured Pakistan for a three-match T20I series, with Azam captaining Pakistan for the first time at home. Pakistan won the T20I series 2–0, with the third match abandoned due to rain. It was Pakistan's first series win under his captaincy and his first Player of the series award as captain. In the first match of the Test series, he scored fluent 143 runs, beating his previous career best score of 127*. In May 2020, he was appointed as ODI captain as well. In June 2020, he was named as the T20I captain in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

to play three Tests and three T20Is. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. During the first day of the first Test, he scored an attacking unbeaten 69 runs in difficult conditions, to help his side get out of danger, his knock earned him appreciation from former England captains, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan. In the third and final Test of the series, he scored his 2,000th run in Test cricket, achieving the feat in his 29th Test. He finished the series with 195 runs at an average of 48.75 in five innings with two half-centuries. In the second T20I against England, he became the joint-fastest batsman to score 1,500 runs in T20Is, reaching the milestone in 39 innings. He finished the series with 77 runs in two innings. Pakistan drew the series 1-1, after winning the third and final T20I, with the first match being washed out. On 8 September 2020, he slipped to number two position in the T20I batsmen ranking after leading it for 22 months. He captained the team for the first time in ODIs in Pakistan's home series against Zimbabwe. Pakistan won the series 2–1. He scored 221 runs including a century score of 125 runs in the 3rd and final ODI and was named as Man of the series. In the first T20I of the series against Zimbabwe, he scored 82 runs, becoming the first batsman to score more than 1,000 runs in T20 cricket for the second consecutive year. On 10 November 2020, Babar was appointed captain of Pakistan's Test side, ahead of their tour to New Zealand. He suffered a thumb injury while practicing and was ruled out of the Test series and later from the T20I series as well. On 26 December 2022, Babar breaks the 16-year-old record of scoring the most runs in a calendar year by a Pakistan batter, going past

Mohammad Yousuf Mohammad Yusuf, Muhammad Yousuf and other spellings, may refer to: Politicians * Mohammad Yusuf (politician), prime minister and foreign minister of Afghanistan * Mohammad Yousef, a governor of Daykundi of Province, Afghanistan * Muhammad Yusuf ...

. He achieved this feat while batting in the first Test of New Zealand tour of Pakistan at

National Stadium, Karachi The National Stadium (Urdu: نیشنل سٹیڈیم), also referred to as National Bank Cricket Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of Karachi Ki ...

. He also achieved the feat of highest run scorer in Test cricket for the year 2022 in the same match, going past England's

Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England Test and One Day International (ODI) teams, and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire in English domestic ...

No. 1 ODI batsman

In April 2021, while playing against South Africa in the first ODI, Babar scored his 13th ODI century in his 76th innings, making him the quickest to reach this mark, surpassing the record of

Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who played for South Africa in all three formats of the game. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 ...

who took 83 innings to achieve the record. At the end of the series, he became the No. 1 ODI batsman, with 865 points, surpassing Virat Kohli who had previously been the top-rated ODI batsman for 1258 days. On 14 April 2021, Babar scored his maiden T20I century (122), in a winning cause against South Africa in the Centurion Stadium. He and Mohammad Rizwan shared a partnership of 197 runs, which is the highest partnership for Pakistan in T20Is and the fourth-highest partnership of all time in the format. On 25 April 2021, in the third T20I against Zimbabwe, Babar became the fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to score 2,000 runs in T20Is, doing so in his 52nd innings. In September 2021, Babar was named as the captain of Pakistan's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventua ...

. During the tournament he regained his position as the number one T20I batsman in the rankings. Babar break the record of most fifties (4) and runs (303) in a T20 World Cup edition. He led Pakistan to the semi-finals, where they lost to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, ending their campaign. In March 2022, Australia toured Pakistan after 24 years, in the second test match of the series, he scored 196 runs and broke the record of most runs by a captain in the fourth innings of a test. A week later, during the first ODI against

played at

, he became the second fastest overall and fastest Asian to score 4,000 ODI runs, achieving the feat in his 82nd inning. Few days later, during the second ODI match, he became the first Pakistani skipper to score an ODI century against Australia, also becoming the fastest batsman overall in terms of innings (83) to score 15th ODI century, and helped Pakistan to register their highest successful run chase in ODIs. In the third and decider match of the series, he scored yet another hundred which helped Pakistan chase 211 runs comfortably and win the series 2–1. This was Pakistan's first ODI series win against Australia since 2002. He was named man of the match for second consecutive time in the series and also man of the series for his 276 runs with an average of 138.00.

Domestic and franchise cricket

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and National T20 Cup

Babar initially played domestic cricket for the

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricket team The Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricket team, formerly known as Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan cricket team, was a first-class cricket side in Pakistan. It was sponsored by the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. In May 2019, Pakistan's Prim ...

and for

Islamabad Leopards The Islamabad Leopards was a domestic T20 and List A cricket team, based in Islamabad, Pakistan. The team was established in 2004. Notable players *Shoaib Akhtar * Umer Gul *Iftikhar Anjum *Bazid Khan *Shan Masood *Babar Azam *Imad Wasim Se ...

as an emerging player. For next couple of years, he played first-class cricket for

State Bank of Pakistan cricket team State Bank of Pakistan cricket team was a first-class cricket team sponsored by the State Bank of Pakistan. They competed in Pakistan's first-class List A and Twenty20 tournaments. 1980s State Bank of Pakistan made their first-class debut (along ...

and

Sui Southern Gas Company cricket team Sui Southern Gas Company were a first-class cricket team, sponsored by Sui Southern Gas Company, who played in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Pakistan from 2007-08 to 2009-10, and from 2014-15 to 2018-19. In May 2019, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Kh ...

in the

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has been staged annually since it was first played during the 1953–54 season. Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone many reorganis ...

respectively. In September 2019, Babar was named as the captain of the newly formed Central Punjab for the 2019–20 domestic season. His team went on to win the trophy after defeating Northern in the final. He led his side in the 2019–20 National T20 Cup. In the first match for his side, he scored a century, becoming the first Pakistani cricketer to score three centuries as well as more than 1,500 runs in

Twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inning ...

in a calendar year. He was retained by Central Punjab for the 2020–21 domestic season, both as a player and captain of the team. On 12 October 2020, during the match against

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, he became the fastest batsman in terms of innings (27) to score 1,000 runs in

National T20 Cup The National T20 Cup is a men's professional domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Pakistan. Established in 2005, it is one of the world's oldest Twenty20 cricket leagues. It was the principal T20 competition in the country until 2016, when t ...

's history. In October 2021, in the

2021–22 National T20 Cup The 2021–22 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the eighteenth season of the National T20 Cup, with the tournament starting on 23 September 2021, and finished on 13 October 2021. In ...

, he became the fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to score 7,000 runs in T20 cricket (187).

Pakistan Super League

Babar represented

Islamabad United Islamabad United ( ur, ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was the inaugural champion of the Pakistan Super League. The team is based in Islamabad, the capital cit ...

in the inaugural season of the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Paki ...

. Before the 2017 PSL players draft he moved to

Karachi Kings Karachi Kings ( ur, ; sd, ڪراچي ڪنگز) (abbreviated as KK) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, P ...

. He performed well in the 2017 season, scoring 291 runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 32.33 runs per innings and finishing the tournament as the second leading runs-scorer behind his cousin

Kamran Akmal Kamran Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with a Test match at Harare Sports Club. ...

. He was retained by the Kings for the 2018 season and was the third-highest run-scorer with five half-centuries. He was again retained ahead of the

2019 Pakistan Super League 2019 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 4 or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2019) was the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. ...

. Before the 2020 season, he was appointed as vice captain of the franchise. He was leading runs scorer in Pakistan Super League 2020. He scored 473 runs with an average of 59.12. He led his team to PSL final victory. He won

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in Qualifier and Final. He was also Player of the tournament in 2020 season. In the 2021 season, he scored 554 runs with an average of 69.25, breaking his own record of most runs in a single PSL edition. However, this record was broken in the next season by Fakhar Zaman. In December 2021, he was named as the captain of the

following the players' draft for the 2022 Pakistan Super League. Prior to the 2023 Pakistan Super League, Babar was traded by Karachi to

in exchange for Haider Ali and

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan national ...

while Peshawar also received the first pick in the supplementary round. Babar was also announced as Peshawar's captain, replacing

Wahab Riaz Wahab Riaz (Urdu, pa, ; born 28 June 1985) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. He frequently bowls at speeds of around 90 mph (144.8 km/h) and has reached . His all round performance i ...

Other leagues

In 2016, he was signed by

Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...

(BPL) franchise

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, (later renamed as Rangpur Rangers), however due to national duties, he could not participate. In 2017, Babar played for

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in the

Caribbean Premier League The Caribbean Premier League (abbreviated to CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean. It was founded by Cricket West Indies in 2013 to replace the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in ...

and Sylhet Sixers in the BPL. In 2019,

signed Babar for the 2019 t20 Blast

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

competition. He was the competition's highest run-scorer with 578 runs in 13 matches including four half-centuries and one century and recorded a

of 52.54 runs per innings. In January 2019, it was announced that he would rejoin Somerset for 12 matches in the

2020 t20 Blast The 2020 Vitality Blast was the 2020 season of the t20 Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league being played in England and Wales. It was the third season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (EC ...

as well as for two first-class matches. In August 2020, Somerset confirmed his participation, and was available after fulfilling his national duties. On 16 September 2020, in the match against

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, he registered his career best score of 114 not out off 62 balls and also completed his 5,000 runs in T20s, becoming the third fastest in the world and fastest Asian in terms of innings to achieve the milestone. The century against Glamorgan was also the first hit by a batsman in a T20 game at

Sophia Gardens Sophia Gardens ( cy, Gerddi Sophia) is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket matches and county cricket matches are held in the Sophia Gardens cricket ground, the home of ...

. He ended the season with 218 runs in 7 matches with an average of 36.33, finishing as team's second highest runs-getter. However, Somerset did not qualify for the quarter-finals.

Records and achievements

He is the third-fastest Pakistani batsman to reach 1000 runs in ODI cricket (21 innings). He is also the joint fastest Pakistani batsman to reach 2000 runs in ODI cricket (45 innings), along with Zaheer Abbas. Babar Azam is also the fastest Asian batsman to reach 3000 runs in ODI cricket (68 innings). He also holds the record to score the most runs in the first 25 innings of his career (1306 runs). Babar Azam is the only cricketer to score 5 consecutive centuries in a single country (United Arab Emirates). Babar is the fastest batsman to score 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 ODI centuries. With 17 centuries in ODIs he has the second most centuries in the format for a Pakistani batter. He is the only batsman in history to score 3 consecutive centuries twice. He is the fastest captain to reach 1000 ODI runs in 13 innings. He has the highest number of runs with 303 runs in the 2021 T20 World Cup. He is also the fastest batsman, in terms of time taken, to reach 1000 runs in T20 Internationals (26 innings). Babar Azam has also scored the most runs for Pakistan in a single World Cup (474 runs in 2019 World Cup). He has been the top ODI scorer for Pakistan in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021. Babar Azam has also been the top Test scorer for Pakistan in 2018 and 2019. He has the highest Test score for a captain and for Pakisatan in the fourth innings of a Test match. He has the most consecutive 50+ scores in men's international cricket. He is the first Pakistani captain to beat India in a world cup match. Babar is also the first Pakistani to win the ICC ODI cricketer of the year. He has the highest individual score for a Pakistani captain in ODIs. He is the fastest batsman to reach 2000 and 2500 T20I runs. He is one of 3 Pakistani batsman to score a century in all formats and has the highest T20I score for Pakistan. In the PSL he is the highest run scorer in the 2020 and 2021 with 473 and 554 runs. He is the first Pakistani Capitan and fifth overall to complete 1000 runs across all formats. He was the first Pakistani and fourth captain to score a century in every format. The 425 balls he faced is the fourth most by a player in the fourth innings of a Test match. He also has the record for the second-most minutes batted in the fourth innings of a match. He has the joint most international centuries by a Pakistani capitan.

Awards

2017

* He was named in the

ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year The ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year is an honour awarded each year by the International Cricket Council. It recognizes the top cricket players from around the world in the ODI format of the game. The team does not actually compete, but exists so ...

2017 * PCB's ODI Cricketer of the Year: 2017

2018

* PCB's T20I Cricketer of the Year: 2017

2019

* He was named in the

2019

2020

* 2020 Pakistan Super League Player of the Tournament * ARY News Person of the Year 2020

2021

* Named as

ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year The ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year is an annual award presented since 2004 by the International Cricket Council to the best One Day International cricketer. It is one of the annual ICC Awards. Selection The recipient of the annual award is ...

2021 * Named as captain of the

ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year The ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year is an honour awarded each year by the International Cricket Council. It recognizes the top men's cricket players from around the world in the Twenty20 International format of the game. The team does not actually ...

2021 * Named as captain of the

Team of the Tournament * Winner of

ICC Player of the Month The ICC Awards are an annual set of sports awards for international cricket, which recognise and honour the best international cricket players of the previous 12 months. The awards were introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in ...

for April 2021 * PCB's ODI Cricketer of the Year: 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azam, Babar 1994 births Living people Punjabi people Pakistani cricketers Lahore cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricketers Islamabad Leopards cricketers Islamabad cricketers Lahore Eagles cricketers Islamabad United cricketers Rangpur Rangers cricketers Karachi Kings cricketers Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers Sylhet Sixers cricketers Somerset cricketers Central Punjab cricketers People from Lahore