Zulfiqar Babar (born 10 December 1978) is a Pakistani former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played for the

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 ...

between 2013 and 2016.

Domestic career

The lack of top-class facilities, though, didn't diminish his hunger or ambition. Despite not breaking through to the national team earlier, Babar made sure his name was always in the reckoning by consistently being among the wickets. In 2009/10

Quaid-i-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 ...

, he took 69 wickets at 16.42. A national call-up didn't come about then, but the selectors couldn't look away when he took 93 first-class wickets in 13 games in the 2012/13 season, at an average of 17.04. He sealed his case when he took 6 for 22 in a practice game between Pakistan Chief Ministers XI and Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman's XI in October 2013. In the inaugural

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 ...

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he along with Grant Elliot set the highest 10th wicket partnership in any form of T20(63) He was the leading wicket-taker for Water and Power Development Authority in the 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with thirty-one dismissals in six matches.

International career

Babar made his T20I debut on 27 July 2013, 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 Greate ...

, being one of the oldest Pakistani players to do so, aged 34 years 229 days. Although Babar is Pakistan's second oldest T20 debutant after Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was 36 years 178 days, he is unfazed. He says, "I always leave such matters in the hands of Allah. Perhaps, it was my destiny to be playing for Pakistan at a time when people would be seriously considering other options in life." He picked up 3 for 23 and was the highest wicket-taker for his team in the game. He also scored an invaluable 13 * off 17 balls, and hit a six off the last ball of the innings to guide his team to a 2-wicket victory. He also scored 11* off 6 balls in the next game and picked up 2 more wickets for 37. He was the highest wicket-taker in the series and was named Man of the Series in his debut series. Babar was named to the Test squad to play against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

UAE 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 ...

in October 2013. He was chosen ahead of the regular spin bowler cricketer at Abu Dhabi Test. He took 3 wickets of

JP Duminy Jean-Paul Duminy (born 14 April 1984), more commonly known as JP Duminy, is a South African cricket commentator, and former international cricketer. He was vice-captain of the South Africa Twenty20 team. He is a left-handed batsman and a rig ...

Faf du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...

and

Robin Peterson Robin John Peterson (born 4 August 1979) is a former South African cricketer who bowls left arm spin and is a capable batsman. He has played 14 Tests and over 70 ODIs for South Africa. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on ...

in the first innings and took wickets 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 ...

and

Dale Steyn Dale Willem Steyn (; born 27 June 1983) is a South African former professional cricketer who played for the South African Cricket Team. He is often regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and the best Test bowler of his generat ...

in the second Innings showing his spinning abilities helped Pakistan to win the match by seven wickets. He was selected in Pakistan's World Cup squad for World T20 2014. Against the match vs Australia, he took the wickets of David Warner and Shane Watson in the 1st over thus "Piling the dead bodies of Australia". Pakistan managed to win that match by 16 runs. He made his One Day International debut for Pakistan against Australia in the

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 t ...

on 7 October 2014.

Personal life

Babar hails from Okara, a small town 85 miles away from

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 ...

and is the first from the town to play for Pakistan in 65 years. Babar is the son of former Pakistani international footballer, Abdul Ghaffar, who played one game for Pakistan. Babar says his father never forced him to play soccer, knowing his son's passion for cricket. Babar has two grandsons with an interest in cricket.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babar, Zulfiqar Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Multan cricketers Baluchistan cricketers Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Water and Power Development Authority cricketers Baluchistan Bears cricketers Living people 1978 births Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings Quetta Gladiators cricketers Karachi Kings cricketers Southern Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Cricketers from Okara, Pakistan