BY SM ABDULLAH ARIF
Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam has grown up as the frontline batter for the Green Shirts across all formats of the game. His consistency and focus make him different from several other batters around the world and it is also the reason why he has been praised at every level.
Here we check out five facts about one of the most prominent batters of the current era:
Impressive Catch As A ‘Ball Picker’
Babar Azam, after he rose to fame and became captain, stunned the cricket world with an old video of him as a ‘ball picker’. The video was from Pakistan vs South Africa 2007 match in which he can be seen taking a brilliant catch outside the boundary rope. The shot was hit by South African batter JP Duminy and the catch managed to gain the attention of popular West Indian commentator, Ian Bishop.
First Cousin To Akmal Brothers
You must have heard or if you didn’t, we tell you that Babar is the first cousin to Akmal Brothers who made a name in Pakistan with their cricketing skills. Kamran, Umar, and Adnan Akmal represented Pakistan for many years.
Babar must have got cricket blood for probably a couple of reasons but this is surely one of them.
Die-Hard Fan Of ‘AB De Villiers’
In his so many interviews, the cover drive master acknowledged the greatness of former South African captain AB De Villiers and wished to be like him. He admitted De Villiers as his idol and followed him a lot.
Born To Make Runs
If you watched Babar scoring runs with consistency lately then you must know it is not something new for him. He was appointed captain for ICC U19 World Cup 2012 and guess what, he was the second-highest run-scorer with 287 runs in six matches at an average of 57.40.
Test Debut In Day-Night Match
Babar became just the second cricketer to make his Test debut in a day-night contest. His debut was against West Indies where he scored his maiden fifty just like he did in his debut ODI. He departed after scoring 69 runs but gave a signal of a big player coming up.
