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Mohammad Babar Azam (
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
, ; ; born 15 October 1994) is a Pakistani international cricketer and a former
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of the Pakistan national team in all three formats of the game. A right-handed top-order batter, he captains
Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi (; ; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise Twenty20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The team is owned b ...
in the
Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...
. He remains the only captain to take Pakistan to the number 1 ODI team rankings. Azam was a member of the Pakistan team that won the
2017 ICC Champions Trophy The 2017 ICC Champions Trophy was the eighth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in England and Wales from 1 to 18 J ...
. In November 2023, Azam resigned from captaincy in all formats after the
2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...
. However, in March 2024, he was reappointed as Pakistan's captain in white-ball cricket. On 1 October 2024, Azam resigned from the white-ball captaincy for a second time, citing his workload and desire to focus on his batting.


Early life

Babar Azam was born on 15 October 1994 into a
Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...
family in the
Walled City of Lahore The Walled City of Lahore, also known as the Old City or Inner Lahore, refers to the historic core of Lahore, the capital and largest city of Punjab, Pakistan. The early settlements were established between the Origins of Lahore, 1st and 7th ...
. His older
first cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the lineal kinship, kinship system used in the English-s ...
s (through his elder paternal
uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...
) Kamran and
Umar Akmal Umar Akmal (Urdu, ; 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 fixin ...
were the reason he was attracted to cricket, and their stories inspired him to take up cricket as his profession. He had been a ball boy at
Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium formerly known as Lahore Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a capacity of 34,000, it is the List of cricket grounds in Pakistan, largest c ...
before joining a cricket academy and starting his domestic cricket career there. He sought guidance from Rana Sadiq, his first coach, who taught him the fundamentals of batting. Later, he went on to be a part of the Pakistan U-19 (under 19) setup.


International career


Early career

On 31 May 2015, Babar was included in the Pakistan 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, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. 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 One Day 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. 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 visited 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 Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
debut for Pakistan against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
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 earning his first man of the Match award. In the second ODI, he scored another century, this time scoring 123 off 126 balls, and contributing to Pakistan's total of over 330 runs. In the third and final ODI of the series Azam scored a third consecutive century (117 from 106). He also set the record for 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 (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
on 13 October 2016 and scored 69
run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
s 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 record was later surpassed by his compatriot Fakhar Zaman.Records One-Day Internationals Batting records Fastest to 1000 runs ESPN Cricinfo
, Stats.espncricinfo.com, 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
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 Pakistani former cricketer. He is among the few professional cricketers who used to wear spect ...
in 1981. He also entered the top 10 batsmen's ranking in ODIs for the first time ever.
Sarfaraz Ahmed Sarfaraz Ahmed (; born 22 May 1987) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistani national cricket team between 2007 and 2023. He captained the Pakistan side in all formats from 2016 to 2019 and under his captaincy, Pakistan won ...
replaced
Azhar Ali Azhar Ali (Punjabi:اظہر علی; born 19 February 1985) is a Pakistani former international cricketer. He is former captain of ODI and test side of Pakistan national team. He is a member of the Men's National Selection Committee of the Pak ...
as Pakistan's ODI team captain against the West Indies after Azhar Ali stepped down from the captaincy after a defeat against Australia in ODI series. Babar Azam 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, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
. Azam along with
Imad Wasim Syed Imad Wasim (; born 18 December 1988), commonly known as Imad Wasim, is a Pakistani cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team from 2015 to 2024. He is a left-handed all-rounder. Imad is considered as a Twenty20 specialist and pl ...
put on an unbeaten 99 runs partnership which helped Pakistan to a total of 282. In the Champions Trophy 2017, Azam scored 46 off 52 balls in the final match against
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. 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 Gaddafi Stadium formerly known as Lahore Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a capacity of 34,000, it is the List of cricket grounds in Pakistan, largest c ...
,
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
, 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
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, 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 Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
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
T20I Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
batsmen, the second to reach the feat after
Misbah-ul-Haq Misbah-ul-Haq Pride of Performance, PP Sitara-e-Imtiaz, SI (; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan national cricket team, Pakistan in all formats and is former head ...
, 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 an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
, 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 Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is List of England cricket captains, the captain of the England cricket team, England Test cricket, Test team. Stokes has played for England in all three forma ...
, 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 file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
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 The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018. It was the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third t ...
held in
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
(UAE). Playing his first
Asia Cup The Men's Asia Cup is the biennial cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council. The competition is contested by Asian members' senior men's national cricket teams, determining the continental champion of Asia. It was establis ...
, 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). The tournament was hosted bet ...
. The
International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
(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 Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
as their overseas player for the
2019 t20 Blast The 2019 Vitality Blast was the seventeenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league that was played in England and Wales which was run by the ECB, has been branded as the Vitality ...
. 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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, 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 batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...
, 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 List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
, Babar broke
Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (; ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him ...
'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
Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (; ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him ...
.Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: Babar Azam becomes fastest Pakistan Batsman to score 1000 runs in a calendar Year
, NDTV Sports, 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
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 Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located close to Pir Meher Ali Shah University and Rawalpindi Arts Council and has an estimated capacity of 18,000. The f ...
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 ...
, 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
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. He achieved this feat while batting in the first Test of New Zealand tour of Pakistan at
National Stadium, Karachi The National Stadium, also known as National Bank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an international cricket ground in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan,Previously British India owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of the Karach ...
. 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 cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...
.


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 captained the national side in Tests and ODIs. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 3,000, 4,000, and 7,000 ODI runs, joint ...
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 Virat Kohli (born 5 November 1988) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer who plays One Day International, ODI cricket for the India national cricket team, national team and is a former Captain (cricket), captain in all formats. He is a ...
who had previously been the top-rated ODI batsman for 1258 days.


2021–present

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 Mohammad Rizwan (, ; born 1 June 1992) is a Pakistani international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman, batter and wicket-keeper who is the current Captain (cricket), captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, Pakistan team in l ...
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 edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...
. During the tournament he regained his position as the number one T20I batsman in the rankings. Babar has broken 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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, ending their campaign. In March 2022, Australia toured Pakistan after 24 years, in the second test match of the series, during which 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
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
played at
Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium formerly known as Lahore Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a capacity of 34,000, it is the List of cricket grounds in Pakistan, largest c ...
, 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 batter 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 titled 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. On 14 April 2023, in the first T20I against New Zealand, Babar played in his 100th T20I match, becoming the third Pakistani player to so. On 15 April 2023, he claimed his third T20I century, scoring 101 runs off 58 balls, becoming the first captain to score three centuries in T20Is. He led his team to a 38-run victory over New Zealand in the second T20I, becoming the joint player to secure most wins in T20Is as captain (42). On 5 May 2023, during the 4th ODI against New Zealand, he became the fastest batter in the history of ODI cricket to score 5000 runs in terms of inning (97), in the same match he scored his 18th ODI century becoming the fastest to do so. Pakistan won the match by 102 runs and under his captaincy Pakistan became no. 1 ODI team after 33 years. On 15 November 2023, Azam resigned from captaincy in all formats following Pakistan's disappointing World Cup campaign. However, he was reappointed as Pakistan's
limited overs Limited overs cricket, also known as white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed within one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty20 cricket (3-h ...
captain on 31 March 2024. In May 2024, he was named the captain in Pakistan's squad for the
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...
tournament. On 1 October 2024, Azam resigned from the limited overs captaincy for a second time citing his workload and his desire to focus on his batting. On 13 October 2024, Babar Azam becomes the fastest Asian batter to reach 11000 runs in international cricket.


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, then Prime Min ...
and for
Islamabad Leopards The Islamabad Leopards was a domestic T20 and List A cricket team, based in Islamabad, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by populatio ...
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 is a first-class cricket team sponsored by the State Bank of Pakistan. They compete in Pakistan's first-class List A and Twenty20 tournaments. 1980s State Bank of Pakistan made their first-class debut (along w ...
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 ...
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 Central Punjab is a geopolitical region in Punjab, Pakistan. Geography Central Punjab is bounded by the southern boundary of Jhelum River down to the Sutlej, and consists of the five divisions: Lahore, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Sahiwa ...
for the 2019–20 domestic season. His team went on to win the trophy after defeating
Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...
in the final. He led his side in the
2019–20 National T20 Cup The 2019–20 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan from 13 to 24 October 2019. Lahore Whites were the defending champions. It was the sixteenth season of the National T20 Cu ...
. 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 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...
in a calendar year. He was retained by
Central Punjab Central Punjab is a geopolitical region in Punjab, Pakistan. Geography Central Punjab is bounded by the southern boundary of Jhelum River down to the Sutlej, and consists of the five divisions: Lahore, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Sahiwa ...
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 ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...
, 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 ...
'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 18th season of the National T20 Cup, with the tournament starting on 23 September 2021, and finishing on 13 October 2021. In Septe ...
, he became the fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to score 7,000 runs in T20 cricket (187). In August September 2024, Babar Azam played in Bahria town champions cup by PCB. Azam joined ABL Stallions team.


Pakistan Super League

Babar represented
Islamabad United Islamabad United () is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, and was formed in 2015 to compete in the first ...
in the inaugural season of the
Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...
. Before the 2017 PSL players draft he moved to
Karachi Kings Karachi Kings (; ) 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, and was formed in 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Boar ...
. 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 ( Punjabi, Urdu: ; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, coach and former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with ...
. 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 award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) 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 chose ...
award in Qualifier and Final. He was also Player of the tournament in 2020 season. In the
2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
, 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
Karachi Kings Karachi Kings (; ) 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, and was formed in 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Boar ...
following the players' draft for the
2022 Pakistan Super League 2022 Pakistan Super League (referred to as HBL PSL 7 for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. The tournam ...
. Prior to the
2023 Pakistan Super League 2023 Pakistan Super League (referred to as Habib Bank Limited, HBL PSL 8 for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) i ...
, Babar was traded by Karachi to
Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi (; ; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise Twenty20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The team is owned b ...
in exchange for Haider Ali and
Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, (; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan nati ...
while Peshawar also received the first pick in the supplementary round. Babar was also announced as Peshawar's captain, replacing
Wahab Riaz Wahab Riaz (; born 28 June 1985) is a Pakistani former cricketer and cricket administrator who was chief selector of Pakistan national cricket team from November 2023 to July 2024. Riaz was a left-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. H ...
. In the
2024 Pakistan Super League The 2024 Pakistan Super League (referred to as HBL PSL 9 for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Pakistan Super League. Established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015 as a franchise Twenty20 cricket league, it was played be ...
he scored 569 runs in eleven matches with an average of 56.90.


Other leagues

In 2016, he was signed by
Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...
(BPL) franchise
Rangpur Riders Rangpur Riders (), is a professional franchise cricket team based in Rangpur. The Riders compete in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the premier cricket league in Bangladesh. This team took part in 2024 Global Super League and became the cha ...
, (later renamed as Rangpur Rangers), however due to national duties, he could not participate. In 2017, Babar played for
Guyana Amazon Warriors The Guyana Amazon Warriors is a cricket team of the Caribbean Premier League based in Providence, Georgetown, Guyana. It represents Guyana in the league and was established in 2013 for the inaugural season. The team plays home games at Provi ...
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 Sylhet Strikers () is a professional cricket franchise based in Sylhet, Bangladesh, competing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The team made its debut in the inaugural 2012 Bangladesh Premier League. Initially owned by Sylhet Sports Li ...
in the BPL. In 2019,
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
signed Babar for the
2019 t20 Blast The 2019 Vitality Blast was the seventeenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league that was played in England and Wales which was run by the ECB, has been branded as the Vitality ...
county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...
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
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 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 eighteenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league being played in England and Wales. run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which was br ...
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 Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...
, 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 ( ; ) is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestig ...
. 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. For the
2025–26 Big Bash League season The 2025–26 Big Bash League season or BBL, 15 will be the fifteenth season of the Big Bash League (BBL), the professional men's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The Hobart Hurricanes are the defending champions. Draft T ...
,
Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers is an Australian professional franchise men's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Thunder, the Sixers are the successors of the Spee ...
signed Babar Azam.


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 second fastest Asian batsman to reach 3000 runs in ODI cricket (68 innings). He has set a new record by becoming the fastest player to score 5000 runs in ODI cricket (97 innings). He also holds the record to score the most runs in the first 25 innings of his career (1306 runs). Babar is the fastest batsman to score 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 ODI centuries. With 19 centuries in ODIs he has the second most centuries in the format for a Pakistani batter only behind Saeed Anwar's 20. He is the only batsman in history to score 3 consecutive centuries twice due to which cricket analyst Rehan Ul-Haq termed Babar Azam as the "undisputed king of this format" after one of his record-breaking performances in ODIs and is now known as "King Babar" ('
Wisden
'') 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 The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unite ...
. He is also the fastest batsman, in terms of time taken, to reach 1000 runs in T20Is (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, 2021 and 2022. Babar Azam has also been the top Test scorer for Pakistan in 2018, 2019 and 2022. He has the highest Test score for a captain and for Pakistan in the fourth innings of a Test match. 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, a feat he has achieved twice. He has the highest individual score for a Pakistani captain in ODIs with his 158 against England in 2021. 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 as well as the most centuries in the format for Pakistan. In the PSL he is the highest run scorer in the 2020 and 2021 with 473 and 554 runs as well as the league's all-time leading run scorer. 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 in the second test against Australia in Karachi in 2022 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. In 2022, he broke Ricky Ponting's record for most fifty plus scored in a calendar year with 25 scores greater than fifty. At the age of 28, he becomes the youngest cricketer ever to get honored with the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz. Pakistan's third highest civilian award.


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
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 ...
2019


2020

*
2020 Pakistan Super League 2020 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 5 or for sponsorship reasons as HBL PSL 2020) was the fifth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. ...
Player of the Tournament *
ARY News ''ARY News HD'' () is a Pakistani news channel launched on 26 September 2004 with the name "ARY One", the channel was later renamed to "ARY One World" until May 2009 when it was rebranded as "ARY News". A bilingual news channel in English and ...
Person of the Year 2020


2021

* Named as ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2021 * Named as captain of the
ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year ICC most commonly refers to: * International Criminal Court, an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands * International Cricket Council, the global governing body of cricket *ICC may a ...
2021 * Named as captain of 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 ...
2021 * Named as captain of the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...
Team of the Tournament * Winner of ICC Player of the Month for April 2021 * PCB's ODI Cricketer of the Year: 2021


2022

* Named as ICC Cricketer of the Year ( Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy): 2022 * Named as ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2022 * Named as captain of 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 ...
2022 * Named in the
ICC Men's Test Team of the Year The ICC Men's Test Team of the Year is an honour awarded each year by the International Cricket Council. It recognises the top cricket players from around the world in the Test format of the game. The team does not actually compete, but exists ...
2022 * Winner of ICC Player of the Month for March 2022


2023

* On 23 March 2023, he was awarded the
Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...
, Pakistan's third highest civilian award. At the age of 28, he becomes the youngest cricketer ever to get honored with the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz. * Winner of ICC Player of the Month for August 2023 * Named in the
ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year ICC most commonly refers to: * International Criminal Court, an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands * International Cricket Council, the global governing body of cricket *ICC may a ...
2024


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azam, Babar 1994 births Living people Pakistani cricketers Lahore cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricketers Islamabad Leopards cricketers Islamabad cricketers Lahore Eagles cricketers Islamabad United cricketers Rangpur Riders cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Karachi Kings cricketers Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers Sylhet Strikers cricketers Somerset cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in England Central Punjab cricketers ICC Cricketer of the Year Akmal family