Babar Azam

Babar Azam is Pakistan's premier batsman and one of the finest run-scorers in modern cricket. Born on 15 October 1994 in Lahore, he comes from a cricket-loving family — his cousins include the legendary Akmal brothers (Kamran, Umar and Adnan). He rose through Pakistan's junior ranks, captaining the Under-19 side, and made his international debut in 2015.

Rise to the top

Babar quickly established himself as the anchor of Pakistan's batting in all three formats. He became the fastest batsman to reach 5,000 runs in T20 internationals and holds Pakistan's record for the most ODI centuries. He is consistently ranked among the world's top batsmen — he became the number-one ranked ODI batsman in 2021 and has repeatedly featured at the summit of the ICC batting rankings across formats.

Captaincy

Babar was appointed Pakistan's captain across formats in 2019-20. Under his leadership, Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup, the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, the final of the 2022 Asia Cup, and topped the ODI rankings in 2023. He resigned the captaincy in late 2023 after the ODI World Cup, choosing to focus on his batting.

Legacy

Babar has broken numerous records, including becoming the fastest to 19 ODI centuries and holding Pakistan's record for most runs in a T20 World Cup. He was named ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2021 and 2022, and Wisden's Cricketer of the Year in 2022. He is married to Rabia, with whom he has a daughter. Widely regarded as the greatest batsman of his generation in Pakistan, he continues to lead Pakistan's batting line-up and remains the most-followed Pakistani sportsperson in the world.