On this day eight years ago Pakistan’s all-format captain and star batter Babar Azam made his international debut against Zimbabwe during an ODI match in Lahore.

Babar Azam struck four boundaries amid a busy anchoring knock for Pakistan and went on to score 54 runs in 60 balls.

 

After making his ODI debut, Babar Azam soon emerged as the top batter for Pakistan and has been ruling the white-ball formats since then, especially ODIs.

Babar Azam’s astoundingly consistent run in the ODIs lifted him to dethrone his then Indian counterpart Virat Kohli as the top-ranked ODI batter in April 2021 and was also named the ODI player of the year for two consecutive years.

Earlier this month, Babar Azam smashed two more ODI records – fastest to 5000 runs and to 18 centuries – amid Pakistan’s dominating 102-run victory over New Zealand which propelled them to the top of the ODI rankings for the first time.

The star batter added another feather to his cap as he completed his century of ODI matches in Pakistan’s fifth home ODI against New Zealand in the fifth here at National Bank Cricket Arena.

Babar Azam, who made his debut for Pakistan in ODIs against Zimbabwe, made hard yards on his way to becoming one of the most prominent figures for Pakistan in the sport.

He served as a ball boy when South Africa toured Pakistan in 2007 for a five-match ODI series and also as a net bowler and bowled against legendary players like Inzamam-ul-Haq.

It is pertinent to mention that Babar Azam has featured in 47 Tests, 100 ODIs and 104 T20Is over the course of his career while accumulating over 12,000 runs.

Notably, he is the only batter in the top five spots in ICC Batting Rankings across all formats.

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