Babar Azam

 ( 1994 Births ) 

He made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against the West Indies in Dubai 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 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 in 1981. He also entered the top 10 batsmen's ranking in ODIs for the first time ever.

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 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, Guyana. Azam along with Imad Wasim 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. 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, 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, 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 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 batsmen, the second to reach the feat after Misbah-ul-Haq, 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. His best performance came in the second T20I where he scored an unbeaten 97 runs which won him a 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 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 (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.

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

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, 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 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. 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.

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 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 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 became the fastest Asian batter to reach 11000 runs in international cricket.

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 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, he became the fastest batsman in terms of innings (27) to score 1,000 runs in National T20 Cup's history. In October 2021, in the 2021–22 National T20 Cup, 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 the Bahria town champions cup by PCB for the ABL Stallions.