Babar Azam is an International Pakistani professional cricketer who captains the Pakistan cricket team in all three formats – test, ODI, and T20. He is one of the best batsmen that ever graced cricket. Azam plays for the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League and is the captain of Central Punjab in domestic cricket. More so, he has made several records that will go down in the history of Cricket. He is presently ranked first on the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen and in November 2021, he became the number one T20I batsman, a position he previously held in 2018.
Profile Summary of Babar Azam
- Full Name: Mohammad Babar Azam
- Date of Birth: 15 October 1994
- Birthplace: Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
- Age: 27 years old (in 2022)
- Zodiac Sign: Libra
- Ethnicity: Asian
- Nationality: Pakistan
- Profession: Cricketer
- Education: The Lords International School and University of Punjab
- Religion: Islam
- Height: 5 feet 9 inches (1.80 m)
- Weight: 62 Kg (134 Pounds)
- Instagram: babarazam
- Facebook: TheBabarAzam
- Twitter: babarazam258
Babar Azam Comes from a Family of Cricketers
Babar Azam was born into a Muslim Punjabi family on the 15th of October 1994. He was raised by his father, Azam Siddiqui, and his mother alongside his four siblings; Safeer Azam, Faisal Azam, and Faariya Azam in the walled city of Lahore, Pakistan
Azam grew up amidst cricket enthusiast cousins, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, and Adnan Akmal. Surrounded by international cricket players and lovers, he became interested in cricket and started playing tape ball cricket in his childhood. His interest in cricket did not go unnoticed by his parents who were extremely supportive of him. His mother got him his first bat and admission into Lahore’s cricket academy. Furthermore, he schooled in the Lord’s International School System and the University of Punjab.
Babar Azam’s Performance Against New Zealand is one of Pakistan’s Greatest Individual ODI Performances
There is a saying that ‘’there is no fire without smoke’’ such is the case of the talented cricketer, Azam. His rise to stardom didn’t come on a platter of gold; he worked so hard to build a name for himself. His rise to stardom started from an exceptionally young age when he took up playing tape ball cricket and Gully cricket with his friends and cousins. He served as a ball boy at the Gaddafi Stadium before he enrolled in a cricket academy in 2006. Azam began his domestic career in the academy playing age-group cricket under the supervision of his coach Mansoor Hameed who used to train him at YuSlim cricket club. At the age of 15, he made his domestic cricket debut in a Royal Bank of Scotland Cup List-A match for his side ZTBL against Pakistan Customs. He was with the academy during Pakistan’s home series between 2006 and 2008.
Azam initially played domestic cricket for the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricket team in 2010 and Islamabad Leopards as an emerging player. He made his First-Class debut on 10 December 2010 against National Bank Limited playing for the State Bank of Pakistan cricket team and Sui Southern Gas Company cricket team in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy respectively.
He excelled tremendously in this domestic career, he scored 50 runs in his List A Debut at Multan in a Royal Bank of Scotland Cup which turned out to be vital for the success of his team. Furthermore, on 1 December 2012, he played his first T20 match for Lahore Eagles against Hyderabad Hawks in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup at Lahore. In the same year, he was appointed as the captain of the Pakistan team in the U19 World Cup.
The right-handed batsman made his international debut in the one-day international format against Zimbabwe on 31 May 2015, establishing himself as one of the most reliable batsmen for the Pakistan Cricket team. He was Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in both the 2010 and 2012 under-19 World Cups. However, before his career in the national team in 2015, Azam had the distinction of consistently being the top scorer in age-group domestic cricket.
He cemented his place in the national team with his incredible ODI debut performance which earned him a place in both Test and ODI squads on an away series against Sri Lanka. In 2016, he won his first man of the match award, against the West Indies in the ODI series which earned him a Test debut, and a new title of the world’s best batsman.
On 19 January 2017, he became the second-fastest player to score 1000 ODI runs and the second-fastest to score 1000 T20I runs in history. He has more ODI hundreds than all but two Pakistan batsmen, and his World Cup century against New Zealand will go down in history as one of Pakistan’s greatest individual ODI performances. At the 2017 PCB awards, he was awarded Pakistan’s ODI Player of the year. He was also listed in 2017’s ICC World ODI XI for the first time. Similarly, he entered the top 10 batsmen’s ranking in ODIs for the first time. In May 2018, during a test match against England, Azam had to take a break from cricket after suffering from a fracture in his left wrist with a broken forearm.
Thereafter, Azam was named T20I and ODI captain in October 2019 ahead of the Australia Series, before taking over as Test captain until 2021. He also captained the Pakistani T20I team and has led the team from one match to another. Furthermore, he led the U19 team in 21 matches and has won 13 of them. He also led his home team of Central Punjab in the National T20 Championship on two occasions (2019 and 2020 season). Additionally, he plays for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League and Somerset in the English County Cricket. Previously, he has played for Sylhet Sixers and Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League. He has also played for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League and for Islamabad United in the 2016 Pakistan Super League.
Azam was named in Pakistan’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup In April 2019. The International Cricket Council (ICC) named him as one of the five exciting talents making their Cricket World Cup debut. Later that same year he was signed by Somerset as their overseas player for the 2019 t20 Blast.
On June 26, 2019, he made another landmark achievement in the match against New Zealand where he made his 3,000th run in ODI, becoming the fastest batsman for Pakistan. Additionally, he also became the first middle-order batsman from Pakistan to make a century in a World Cup after 32 years. Furthermore, he broke the record of Javed Miandad of the most runs by a Pakistani batsman in the World Cup, where he scored a massive 474 runs in only eight innings.
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List of All His Achievements
Talents like Azam are known and recognized once in a lifetime; they make history and become legends in their career path. Azam is no doubt a legend in the cricket world he holds several records as evidence of his contribution to the Pakistan cricket team. His records and achievement includes the following;
- He is the second-fastest Pakistani batsman to reach 1000 runs in ODI cricket history (21 innings).
- He is also the fastest Pakistani batsman to reach 2000 runs in ODI cricket (45 innings).
- He holds the record jointly with Zaheer Abbas and Kevin Pietersen.
- Azam is also the quickest Asian batsman to 3000 runs in ODIs (68 innings).
- He also holds the record for most runs scored in the first 25 innings of his career (1306 runs).
- He is the only cricketer in history to score five consecutive centuries in the same country (United Arab Emirates).
- He is the fastest batsman in ODI history to score 7 centuries (33 innings).
- He is also the fastest batsman to reach 1000 runs in T20 Internationals (26 innings).
- Azam holds the record for the most runs for Pakistan in a single World Cup (474 runs in the 2019 World Cup).
- Azam has also been the top Test scorer for Pakistan in 2018 and 2019
- In 2016, 2017, and 2019, he was Pakistan’s leading ODI scorer.
- He is the only batsman to have finished in the top 5 ICC ranking in all three game formats.
- Number one ranked ODI batsman surpassing Virat Kohli in 2021.
What is Babar Azam’s Net Worth?
The talented International Cricketer has accumulated a net worth of $4 million (approximately Rs. 29.4 crores). Cricket is his main source of income; his net worth includes his salary from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as an active category cricket player – PKR 1.1 million per year. Furthermore, he earns money through endorsement deals with companies such as Head & Shoulders, HBL, Oppo, Huawei & more. Reports state that he owns an Audi and Yamaha R1 bike.
Babar Azam’s Wife – Is He in a Romantic Relationship?
The international Cricketer is currently unmarried but he is engaged to his cousin, Nadia Azam, who is believed to be the daughter of his uncle. Reports state that it is likely he ties the knot with his fiancée this year.
Celebrities are usually prone to scandals and controversies; it hogs them in their everyday life, and few can escape being tied to such scandals. Unfortunately, the talented cricketer is not able to escape such a scandal. He was accused of sexual abuse and breach of promise to marry. The woman claimed that they met during teaching and from then on Azam has exploited her. Likewise, she has also filed a case against Babar Azam in court. After that, Azam’s family offered 20 lakh to clear the case and to have an abortion.
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