Babar Azam’s Early Life and Cricketing Journey

Babar Azam is a Pakistani cricket superstar, born in 1994. He\’s famous for his amazing batting skills, considered one of the best in the world right now! He bats with his right hand and usually opens the innings. His talent is recognized worldwide, ranking him number one for ODI (One Day International) cricket. And placing him in the top spots for other formats like T20 (Twenty20) and Test matches.

Azam\’s leadership skills are also impressive. He used to captain Pakistan\’s team in shorter games (T20 and ODIs) and even holds the record for most wins as captain in T20 Internationals. Under his captaincy, Pakistan even reached the number one spot in ODI rankings! He\’s also a record breaker himself, holding the highest score ever by a Pakistani batsman in T20 Internationals. Plus, he was part of the winning team for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Even though he took a short break from captaincy. Babar Azam is back leading Pakistan\’s cricket team in shorter formats as of March 2024.

Babar Azam was born on October 15, 1994, into a Punjabi Muslim family in the Walled City of Lahore. He remembers playing cricket and roaming the streets freely as a child. His older first cousins, Kamran and Umar Akmal, inspired him to take up cricket. Babar was a ball boy at the Gaddafi Stadium before joining the Cricket Academy and starting his domestic cricket career there. He was present for Pakistan\’s home series between 2006 and 2008.

Babar learned the basics of batting from his first coach, Rana Sadiq. He later became part of the Pakistan Under-19 team.

International Career

Early career

In May 2015, Babar Azam was included in Pakistan\’s ODI squad for the home series against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut on May 31 in the third match and scored an impressive 54 runs off 60 balls. His strong debut earned him a place in the squads for both Test and ODI series against Sri Lanka. But he did not play in the Test matches. In the ODI series, he scored only 37 runs in two games. Babar was included in the squad for the away ODI series against Zimbabwe in September 2015.

He stayed in the ODI squad for the home series against England. In the first ODI of the four-match series, he scored 62 not out, helping Pakistan win the match. In the next three matches, he scored 4, 22, and 51 runs respectively, finishing the series with 139 runs at an average of 46.33.

In January 2016, during Pakistan\’s tour of New Zealand. Babar scored 62 runs off 76 balls in the first ODI, but Pakistan lost the match by 70 runs. He was the leading run scorer in the ODI series with 145 runs in 2 innings, averaging 72.50.

In the five-match ODI series against England in July, Babar played all five games and scored a total of 122 runs. He made his Twenty20 International debut for Pakistan against England on September 7, scoring an unbeaten 15 runs off 11 balls. Pakistan won the match and the series.

In addition to the England series, Pakistan played a two-match ODI series against Ireland. In the first ODI, Pakistan beat Ireland by 255 runs. Their biggest win in terms of runs in an ODI, with Babar contributing 29 runs. The second ODI was abandoned due to rain, so Pakistan won the series 1-0.

Rise in shorter formats and record-breaking achievements

In 2016, Babar Azam was picked for the home series against the West Indies. In the first ODI, he scored his first international century, making 120 runs off 131 balls and winning the Man of the Match award. In the second ODI, he scored another century. This time 123 runs off 126 balls, helping Pakistan reach a total of over 330. In the third ODI, he scored a third consecutive century, making 117 runs off 106 balls. He set a record for scoring the most runs (360) in a three-match ODI series. He was also the first player to score a fifty on his Test debut in a day/night Test match against the West Indies in Dubai in October 2016.

In January 2017, during the third ODI against Australia. Azam became the joint-fastest player to score 1,000 runs in ODIs and then the fastest for Pakistan in just 21 innings before his compatriot Fakhar Zaman broke his national and world records. He scored another century in the fifth ODI, only the second ever by a Pakistani batsman in Australia. He entered the top 10 batsmen\’s rankings in ODIs for the first time. In the Champions Trophy 2017, Azam scored 46 runs off 52 balls in the final match against India.

After a successful Champions Trophy, Babar Azam played for Pakistan in a series against a World XI team sent by the ICC. He was the top runs-getter in the series. Babar Azam scoring 179 runs, including 86 runs off 52 balls in the first T20I match, which Pakistan won by 20 runs. In September 2017, he became the fastest batsman to score his seventh ODI century. The first to score five consecutive centuries in one country. He was the leading runs-scorer for Pakistan in 2016 in ODIs and T20Is, and was awarded Pakistan\’s ODI Player of the Year at the 2017 PCB awards. He was also listed in the ICC World ODI XI for the first time.

In 2018, Azam had a tough series against New Zealand in ODIs, scoring only 31 runs in five innings. However, he performed well in the T20I series and became the no.1 T20I batsman. He regained the top spot in the rankings after a successful series against West Indies. In May 2018, he suffered an injury during a Test match against England but made a successful return in July against Zimbabwe, scoring 184 runs in four innings. In November 2018, he scored his first Test century against New Zealand.

2019 Cricket World Cup

In April 2019, Babar Azam was selected for Pakistan\’s team in the 2019 Cricket World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) recognized him as one of the five exciting talents making their World Cup debut. In May 2019, he was signed by Somerset for the 2019 t20 Blast.

Before the World Cup, Pakistan played against England in a one-off T20I and a 5-match ODI series as part of their preparation. In the T20I, he scored 65 runs from 42 balls. In the ODI series, he was the joint leading run-scorer, making 277 runs, including a century and two half-centuries. On June 26, 2019, during a match against New Zealand, Azam became the fastest Pakistani batsman to score 3,000 runs in ODIs, reaching the milestone in 68 innings. He also scored his 10th ODI century in the same match, finishing with 101 not out as Pakistan won by 6 wickets. This made him the first middle-order Pakistani batsman to hit a century in a World Cup match in 32 years. A week later, in the match against Bangladesh, Babar broke Javed Miandad\’s record for the most runs by a Pakistani batsman in a single edition of the World Cup, scoring 474 runs in 8 innings.

Challenges and successes

Babar Azam, like other cricketers, has had his share of tough times. He faced injuries and criticism from some people, but he never gave up. Instead, he became even stronger. One thing that stood out about him was his ability to learn from his mistakes and improve.

One of his biggest achievements happened in 2020 when he became the best ODI batsman in the world, overtaking Virat Kohli. This made him one of the top players in cricket and showed how good he really is.

Playing style and technique

Watching Babar Azam bat is really enjoyable. He looks calm and composed at the crease, which helps him face both fast bowlers and spinners without any trouble. His wrist movement and timing are superb, and he can play well on both sides of the pitch. Babar is good at controlling the pace of his innings. Sometimes he speeds up when the team needs it, and other times he plays carefully to keep the innings stable, especially when other players are getting out.

Check Also :: Babar Azam’s Batting Techniques

Conclusion

Babar Azam\’s journey from the streets of Lahore to the top of international cricket is a story of talent, hard work, and determination. He hasn\’t just met the high expectations set for him. He has gone beyond them with his consistently great performances. As he leads Pakistan cricket into a new era, fans worldwide are excited to see what else this young superstar can achieve. With his talent, charm, and hard work, Babar Azam is still a bright star in cricket, and there\’s more greatness ahead for him.