Born in Lahore Babar Azam is the first cousin of Akmal brothers. He is considered as the next big thing in or Pakistan cricket because of discipline and control temperament. He is the fastest to score 1000 runs in T20I cricket that show how good he is for the shorter format of the game. After scoring runs in domestic cricket Babar got the national team call-up in 2015 against Zimbabwe but his career got new heights when he scores back to back three centuries against West Indies in ODI series which led to his Test cricket debut. He is often compared to Indian `Run Machine` Virat Kohli but Babar regards him as a senior cricketer always.
Babar Azam exhibited his aggressive strokeplay in the Champions Cup match between the Stallions and the Markhors in Faisalabad on Sunday, September 15. Babar took Shahnawaz Dahani for 20 runs in an over including five fours but still couldn't help his side win the contest.
Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan gave a suggestion to Babar Azam while naming Virat Kohli during a press event in Karachi. Babar has been struggling for form of late, with his last fifty-plus score coming in May against Ireland.
Champions Cup 2024 Live: Babar Azam is set to play under Mohammad Haris' captaincy with Stallions while the star pacer Shaheen Afridi represents the Lions in Pakistan's One-Day Cup tournament, which started on September 12.
Babar Azam lost his captaincy after the ODI World Cup debacle but he returned to the helm only after one series and was appointed the Pakistan skipper for T20 World Cup 2024. But with Pakistan performing poorly, will he retain his captaincy? Will they change the captain once again?
Sri Lanka defeated England by eight wickets in the third and final Test match at the Oval. England had already won the first two Test matches and thereby pocketed the series 2-1. But this win for Sri Lanka came after 10 years against England in the longest format as they created multiple records.
"Unlike in the IPL, players are compelled to perform. If an international star fails to perform in the IPL then he is not picked at the auction. Steve Smith is a big example," Danish Kaneria told India TV in an exclusive interview.
Babar Azam has struggled for runs in recent times. He has not hit a fifty in Test cricket in his last 16 innings. Former Pakistan bowler Danish Kaneria has stated that Babar should not have been made the captain, citing that every performer is not captaincy material.
Virat Kohli is senior to Babar Azam. Virat played and led India at the ICC Men's U19 World Cup 2008 in Malaysia whereas Babar represented Pakistan at the 2010 and the 2012 U19 Men's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand and Australia respectively.
Babar Azam has only scored 113 runs in three Test matches for Pakistan in 2024 thus far whereas Joe Root is the leading run-getter with 961 runs in 10 matches at an amazing average of 60.06.
Bangladesh have created history beating Pakistan in the second Test match to win the series 2-0. It is their first-ever away series win in Tests in 15 years and this victory has given them a massive boost in the World Test Championship points table.
Pakistan's recent loss to Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series has affected the rankings among players of both teams. Babar Azam didn't have a great time with scores of 0 and 22. Accordingly, he has lost several rating points to go below Kohli in the rankings.
Cricket's fab-five Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Babar Azam have enjoyed mixed performances in 2024 with the Pakistani star leading the run-scoring chart across formats.
Pakistan recovered well to share the honours with Bangladesh on the opening day of their home Test season in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, August 21. Bangladesh had Pakistan early on the mat at 16/3 before Saud Shakeel and Saim Ayub with a 98-run partnership led their comeback.
PAK vs BAN, 1st Test: Pakistan struggled for a start after being forced to bat first against Bangladesh in their first innings of the opening Test match in Rawalpindi. The star pacer Shoriful Islam gave Bangladesh a brilliant start with two early wickets of Babar Azam and Shan Masood.
With two Test matches - Pakistan vs Bangladesh and England vs Sri Lanka - starting today (August 21), ICC has released the latest rankings in the format. Joe Root is sitting on top in the batting rankings but Babar Azam is likely to challenge him in the coming days.
The Pakistan team is in action today for the first time since the T20 World Cup, which was played in June. The team led by Shan Masood will face Bangladesh in the first of the two-match Test series starting today and Babar Azam will be keen on joining Rohit and Kohli in elite list.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 171* off 239 balls and in-form Saud Shakeel added 141 runs to help Pakistan post a big total of 448/6 in 113 overs. Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud picked two wickets each for Bangladesh while Nahid Rana went wicketless.
Pakistan have named their 17-member squad for a two-match Test series against Bangladesh starting August 21 in Rawalpindi. Shan Masood, who led the side in the 3-0 series defeat to Australia will continue to be the captain but Pakistan have made a few changes in the side since then.
Pakistan are going to host Bangladesh for a two-match Test series which is a part of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. The first Test will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
James Anderson called time on his international playing career with a total of 991 wickets across the three formats of the game. The right-arm swing bowler has claimed the most wickets by a pacer in the red-ball format.