Babar Azam

Babar Azam
Babar Azam after winning Champions Trophy 2017
Personal information
Full name Mohammad Babar Azam
Born (1994-10-15) 15 October 1994
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname Bobby, Bobzy
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right-arm Off break
Role Top order batsman
Relations Kamran Akmal (Cousin)
Adnan Akmal (Cousin)
Umar Akmal (Cousin)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 222) 13 October 2016 v West Indies
Last Test 7 October 2018 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 203) 31 May 2015 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI 26 September 2018 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no. 56
T20I debut (cap 70) 7 September 2016 v England
Last T20I 3 April 2018 v West Indies
T20I shirt no. 56
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2010–present Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd
2012–2015 Islamabad Leopards
2016 Islamabad United (squad no. 31)
2016 Rangpur Riders
2017–Present Karachi Kings (squad no. 56)
2017 Guyana Amazon Warriors (squad no. 56)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I LA
Matches 14 51 20 113
Runs scored 648 2,129 742 4,968
Batting average 28.17 51.92 53.00 51.75
100s/50s 0/6 8/8 0/5 18/25
Top score 90* 125* 97* 142*
Balls bowled – – – 633
Wickets – – – 12
Bowling average – – – 46.25
5 wickets in innings – – – –
10 wickets in match – – – n/a
Best bowling – – – 2/20
Catches/stumpings 12/– 26/– 11/– 52/–
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 11 October 2018

Mohammad Babar Azam (Urdu: محمد بابر اعظم‬‎; born 15 October 1994) is an international Pakistani cricketer who plays in all three formats for Pakistan. He captained the Pakistan Under-19 cricket team at the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and is the current vice-captain for the Pakistan national team.[1] Azam is currently the second joint fastest batsman to reach 1,000 and 2,000 ODI runs.[2][3] He also holds the record of scoring most runs after first 25 ODI Innings by any batsman in the world.[4]

Early life

Babar Azam was born on 15 October 1994 in Lahore, Punjab to a Muslim family. He grew up in the Walled City of Lahore, and began his domestic cricket career there. He comes from a cricketing background, with three of his cousins having represented Pakistan internationally; Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Adnan Akmal.

International career

Early career

In May 2015, Azam 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.[5] His impressive debut earned him a place in both Test and ODI squads selected for an away series against Sri Lanka. He couldn't get a chance in Test series. During the ODI series he could only score 37 runs in two matches that he played.[6]

Azam was included in the squad for the away ODI series against Zimbabwe in September 2015 but was not given a chance to play in the series. Pakistan won the series 2–1.[7]

In October, he was dropped from the Test squad without playing a Test. 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.[8] He had scores of 4, 22 and 51 in next three matches respectively.[9] He finished the series with 139 runs at an average of 46.33.[10]

In January 2016, Pakistan toured New Zealand. In the first ODI match, Azam scored 62 runs off 76 balls. Pakistan lost the match by 70 runs.[11] The second ODI match was abandoned due to heavy rain. In the third ODI, he scored a brilliant 83 off just 77 balls. Despite Pakistan losing the match and the series, Azam was much praised by cricket experts. He was the leading run scorer in the ODI series with 145 runs in 2 innings at an average of 72.50.[12]

In the five-match ODI series against England in July, he batted in five games and only scored 122 runs.[13] Besides the England series, Pakistan played two match ODI series against Ireland. Azam scored 29 runs in the first match with the other ODI abandoned due to rain. Pakistan won the series 1–0.

He made his Twenty20 International debut for Pakistan against England on 7 September. He scored an unbeaten 15 runs off 11 balls. Pakistan won the match and series.[14]

Rise in shorter formats and breaking records

Azam was selected in the home series against the West Indies. In the first match of the ODI series he scored his maiden century, scoring 120 off 131 balls and winning his first man of the match award.[15] In the second ODI he continued his excellent form, scoring another century, this time much quicker than the previous one, scoring 123 off 126 balls. His century enabled Pakistan to put a total over 330.[9] Pakistan won the match and Babar got his second Man of the Match award. In the third and final ODI of the series Azam ended up scoring third consecutive century (117 from 106)[9] and became the third batsman for Pakistan to score hundreds in three successive ODI innings. He also broke the record for scoring the most runs (360) in a three match ODI series.[16] He became the only batsman to score 350+ runs in a three match ODI series.[17][18][19]

Babar Azam after scoring his first ODI century against West Indies at Sharjah in 2016

He made his Test debut for Pakistan against the West Indies in Dubai on 13 October 2016 and scored 69 runs in his first innings.[20] He was the first player to score a fifty on his Test debut through a day/night Test.[21]

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 were eclipsed by his compatriot Fakhar Zaman.[2][22] He finished the ODI series as the leading run-scorer for Pakistan with 282 runs in 5 innings, including a century in 5th ODI, which was only the second century ever scored by a Pakistani batsman in Australia after Zaheer Abbas in 1981.[23] He also entered the top 10 batsmen's ranking in ODIs for the first time ever.[24]

Sarfaraz Ahmed replaced Azhar Ali as Pakistan's ODI team captain against the West Indies after Azhar Ali stepped down from the captaincy after a humiliating defeat against Australia. Azam was appointed vice-captain of the team on the back of his consistent performances in ODI format. He scored an unbeaten 125 in the 2nd ODI of the three–match ODI series at Providence Stadium, Guyana.[9] Batting first, Pakistan was struggling at one stage and were 183 for 5. Azam along with Imad Wasim put on an unbeaten 99 runs partnership which helped Pakistan post a competitive total of 282 on the board.[25] Meanwhile, Azam also broke the record of scoring the most runs after the first 25 ODI innings in this match.[4] In the end Pakistan won the match easily. Azam for his match winning knock won the Man of the Match award. He had scores of 13 and 16 in first and third match of the series respectively.[9] Pakistan won the ODI series 2-1.

In the Champions Trophy 2017, Azam scored a crucial 46 off 52 balls in the final match against India.[9] Pakistan won the final match by 180 runs and lifted the Champions Trophy. It was Azam's first international tournament.

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 Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, he scored 86 playing only 52 balls [26] in the first T20 in the series, and won the his first Man of the match award in T20I. Pakistan won the match by 20 runs. [27] He had scores of 45 and 48 in the next two fixtures.[26]

After a poor test series against Sri Lanka Azam came back strongly in the ODI series scoring consecutive centuries in first two ODIs of the five match series. In the second ODI he became the fastest batsman to score a 7th ODI century[28] and the first batsman in ODI history to score five consecutive centuries in one country.[29] He had scores of 30 and 69 (not out) in next two innings while chasing.[9] He finished the series as the leading runs-scorer with 303 runs at an impressive average of 101. Pakistan whitewashed Sri Lanka (5-0).

He was the leading runs-scorer for Pakistan in 2017 in ODIs and T20Is with 872 and 352 runs respectively.[30][31] At the 2017 PCB awards, he was awarded Pakistan's ODI Player of the year.[32] He was also listed in 2017's ICC World ODI XI for the first time ever.[33]

No. 1 T20I Team and Rise to the top in T20I batsmen ranking

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.[9] But performed well in the T20I series as Pakistan went on to win the series 2-1. Babar was the leading run scorer with 109 runs. He had scores of 41, 50* and 18 in these T20Is.[26] He became the no.1 T20I batsmen, the second to reach the feat after Misbah-ul-Haq,[34] but soon slipped to no. 3 position. He regained no. 1 spot in the rankings after a successful series against West Indies, who were touring Pakistan after thirteen years.[35] He finished the series with most runs and winning Man of the series award as well, scoring 165 runs at an average of 82.50 and a strike rate of 148.64. His best performance came in the second T20I where he scored an unbeaten 97 runs which won him Man of the match award.[36][37] He scored 17 and 51 in 1st and 3rd T20I respectively.[26] Pakistan won the series 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.[38] As a result of this injury, he missed 4 to 6 weeks of cricket for rest and recuperation.

PSL career

Babar was bought by Islamabad United in the first edition of Pakistan Super League for US$25,000. During a group stage match he suffered a small injury which prevented him in taking any further part in the tournament. Before the 2017 PSL draft he moved to Karachi Kings from Islamabad United; he was bought for US$50,000.[39] He performed well in the 2nd season, scoring 291 runs with an average of 32.33 and finishing the tournament as the second leading runs-scorer behind his cousin Kamran Akmal.[40] He was retained by the Kings for the 3rd season in the 2018 PSL draft in the Diamond category, earning between US$70,000 to US$85,000.[41] Babar was the third-highest runs-scorer in the season, leading runs-scorer from his team, scoring 402 runs in 11 innings with an average of 40.20 at a strike rate of over 122 with 5 fifties. His team finished 3rd in the season.[42]

International awards

One-Day International Cricket

Man of the Match awards

S No Opponent Venue Date Match Performance Result
1 West Indies Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah 30th September, 2016 120 (131 balls, 8x4, 3x6)  Pakistan won by 4 wickets.[43]
2 West Indies Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah 2nd October, 2016 123 (126 balls, 9x4, 1x6)  Pakistan won by 59 runs.[44]
3 West Indies Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 5th October, 2016 117 (106 balls, 8x4, 1x6)  Pakistan won by 136 runs.[45]
4 West Indies Providence Stadium, Providence, Guyana 9th April, 2017 125* (132 balls, 7x4, 3x6) ; 2 Ct  Pakistan won by 7 wickets.[46]
5 Sri Lankas Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah 20th October, 2017 69* (101 balls, 5x4,) ; 2 Ct  Pakistan won by 74 runs.[47]
6 Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe 22nd July, 2018 106* (76 balls, 9x4,, 3x6)  Pakistan won by 131 runs.[48]

Records and achievements

Milestones
  • Second joint-fastest in the world to 1,000 ODIs runs.[2]
  • Second joint-fastest in the world to 2,000 ODI runs. [3]
  • Fastest Pakistani and second fastest batsman in the world to reach 5th, 6th and 8th ODI hundreds.[49][28]
  • Fastest batsman in the world to reach 7th ODI hundred (33 innings).[28]
  • Second youngest cricketer to score three consecutive ODI hundreds.
  • First batsman in ODI history to score 5 consecutive centuries in one country.[29]
  • Most runs (1306) in first 25 ODIs innings by any batsman in the world.[4]
Most runs in a calendar year / series
  • Most ODI runs in 2016 by a Pakistani cricketer.[50]
  • Most ODI runs in 2017 by a Pakistani cricketer.[30]
  • Second most T20I runs in 2017 by any batsman and most by a Pakistani cricketer.[31]
  • Most runs (360) scored in a three-match ODI series.[51]
  • Most runs in an ODI series against WI by a Pakistani cricketer.[52]
  • Most runs in a T20I series against WI by a Pakistani cricketer.[53]
  • Most runs (179) in a 3 match T20I series by a Pakistani cricketer and second most in the world.[54]
  • Second most runs (179) scored by a Pakistani cricketer in a T20I bilateral series (3 matches).[55]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Babar Azam to lead Pakistan in U-19 World Cup". Cricinfo. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Fastest to 1000 runs | ESPN Cricinfo, Stats.espncricinfo.com, 2017-2-01. Retrieved 2017-2-01.
  3. 1 2 "RECORDS / ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS / BATTING RECORDS / FASTEST TO 2000 RUNS". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Most runs after first 25 ODI Innings, Geo News, 2017-4-10. Retrieved 2017-4-11.
  5. ↑ "Zimbabwe tour of Pakistan, 3rd ODI: Pakistan v Zimbabwe at Lahore, May 31, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Statistics / Statsguru / Babar Azam / One-Day Internationals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Pakistan ODI squad against Zimbabwe for three match ODI series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "England vs Pakistan 1st ODI-ODI Series 2015–16". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Statistics / Statsguru / Babar Azam / One-Day Internationals / Innings List". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Pakistan Vs England ODI Leading runs scorer". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Pakistan VS New Zealand 1st ODI-Odi Series 2016". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "New Zealand Vs Pakistan ODI series leading runs scorer". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Most runs / ODI series / Eng vs Pak /Stastics". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "Pakistan tour of England and Ireland, Only T20I: England v Pakistan at Manchester, Sep 7, 2016". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "Azam's maiden ton helps Pak take 1–0 lead in 3–match ODI series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  16. ↑ "Most runs in a 3–match ODI series". howstat.com. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "Hundreds in consecutive innings". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "Babar Azam in elite company". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "Stats: Most runs in a 3-match ODI series". 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  20. ↑ "West Indies tour of United Arab Emirates, 1st Test: Pakistan v West Indies at Dubai (DSC), Oct 13–17, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Azam, Nawaz debut as Pakistan win toss". Daily Times. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  22. ↑ Sundararaman, Gaurav (19 January 2017). "The fastest to 1000 and 3000 ODI runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "PCB needs to groom Babar Azam to save him from fading away". Tribune. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  24. ↑ "Babar Azam breaks into ODIs top 10". Tribune. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  25. ↑ "Pak V WI in WI 2016–17 / 2nd ODI". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  26. 1 2 3 4 "Statistics / Statsguru / Babar Azam / T20I Internationals / Innings List". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  27. ↑ "1st Match (D/N), Independence Cup at Lahore, Sep 12 2017". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  28. 1 2 3 "Fastest to nth ODI centuries". ckrao.wordpress.com. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  29. 1 2 "Five consecutive tons in the UAE for Babar Azam". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  30. 1 2 "Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Most runs in 2017 | ESPN Cricinfo". Stats.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  31. 1 2 "Records | Twenty 20 Internationals | Batting records | Most runs in 2017 | ESPN Cricinfo". Stats.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  32. 1 2 "Sarfaraz bags outstanding player of the year at PCB awards 2017". Dawn News. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  33. 1 2 "Men's ODI Team of the year". www.icc.cricket.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  34. ↑ "Babar Azam becomes second Pakistani to top ICC T20I rankings". SAMMA TV. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  35. ↑ "Babar Azam back on top with a bang in latest T20I rankings". Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  36. ↑ "West Indies tour of Pakistan, 2nd T20I: Pakistan v West Indies at National Stadium, Karachi (NSK), 2nd April 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  37. ↑ "Azam defends his T20 approach after missing out on century". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  38. ↑ "Babar Azam ruled out of the England Test series". Geo Tv. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  39. ↑ "Sangakkara, Gayle join Karachi Kings for PSL 2017". GEO TV.
  40. ↑ "Pakistan Super League, 2017 / Records / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  41. ↑ "HBL Pakistan Super League retentions finalised". www.psl-t20.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  42. ↑ "Pakistan Super League, 2018 / Records / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  43. ↑ "2016–2017 Pakistan v West Indies – 1st Match – Sharjah".
  44. ↑ "2016–2017 Pakistan v West Indies – 2nd Match – Sharjah".
  45. ↑ "2016–2017 Pakistan v West Indies – 3rd Match – Abu Dhabi".
  46. ↑ "2017 Pakistan v West Indies – 2nd Match – Sharjah".
  47. ↑ "2017-2018 Pakistan v Sri Lanka - 4th ODI - Sharjah".
  48. ↑ "2018-2019 Zimbabwe v Pakistan - 5th ODI - Bulawayo".
  49. ↑ "Fastest to first five ODIs Tons". Hindustan Times.
  50. ↑ "Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Most runs in 2016 | ESPN Cricinfo". Stats.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  51. ↑ "Most runs in a three-match ODI series". ESPN. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  52. ↑ "Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Most runs in a ODIs series vs West Indies | ESPN Cricinfo". Stats.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  53. ↑ "Records | T20I | Batting records | Most runs in a T20I series vs West Indies | ESPN Cricinfo". Stats.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  54. ↑ "Most runs in a 3-match T20I series". Howstat.com. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  55. ↑ Stats / Pakistan vs World XI / Record breaking series for Babar Azam, firstpost.com, 2017-9-16. Retrieved 2017-9-16.
  56. ↑ "Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali and Babar Azam big winners at the Pakistan Cricket Board's annual awards night". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
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