Babar Azam

Mohammad Babar Azam is a Pakistani cricketer known for his batting. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. He was the captain of the Pakistan team for the ICC under 19 World Cup tournaments. Babar has his connections in cricket and he is the cousin of Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Adnan Akmal and he is known as a very talented opener. In the 2009 Under 19 tri-series that included Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Babar ended the series as the leading run scorer in the series. His One Day International (ODI) debut on 31^st May 2015 and the debut was against Zimbabwe in Lahore. His Twenty20 International debut was on 7^th September 2016 against England. He is seen as the future face of Pakistani cricket.

Born on 15^th October 1994 in Lahore, Punjab (Pakistan), Babar since his childhood was interested in cricket. He is a matric pass and then he concentrated only in the sport of cricket. He has been idolizing A B Devilliers from the time he started playing cricket and he received his family’s support to fulfill his passion. Babar, being the cousin of Akmal brothers, received tips from the professionals themselves and they also played a keen role in shaping his career. At the age of 15, Babar already had made news during the tri-series match between Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where he became the top scorer of the series which included his score of 127 runs. Later, in the Under 19 inter-regional domestic competition, he made a total of 361 runs with an average of over 45 and impressed the selectors with his batting technique. Even before having any experience of first class cricket, Babar had signed a contract with the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricket team (ZTBL) which had players like Sohail Tanvir, Imran Nazir and Saeed Ajmal. He was then selected for the Under 19 World Cup and also led the team in the 2009 U19 World Cup in which he had a decent performance. The team lost to India to get knocked out of the tournament. Babar scored a fifty against India and was able to attract the selector's attention. He was selected for the 2015 Zimbabwe’s tour to Pakistan and he made his ODI debut on 31^st May 2015 and scored 54 runs in his debut match and made a superb debut in international cricket. His debut in international T20 was on 7^th September 2016 against England in Manchester and he score 15 runs and was not out. Pakistan won the match by 9 wickets. He was included in the West Indies tour of September 2016 and in the first ODI played on 30^th September 2016, Babar made his first international century and scored 120 runs in the match. He helped Pakistan in winning the match by 111 runs and was awarded the Man of the Match award. In the second ODI of the series, he scored 123 runs in 126 balls and made a back to back the second century helping Pakistan to win the match by 59 runs. He was awarded the Man of the Match for the second time in a row.

Babar Azam has been able to create a mark with his performance in the international cricket. Apart from playing in the international team, he also has been associated with teams like Islamabad United, Rawalpindi Rams, Sui Southern Gas Corporation and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. His favourite shot is the cover drive and favourite cricketer is AB Devilliers. By the performance that Babar has been able to produce in such a less time, he is surely considered as one of the future captain of Pakistan cricket.