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Oct 15 · 5:00 PM
In the modern T20 era, few players combine consistency, technical excellence, and leadership as effectively as Babar Azam. With 145 T20Is and 4,596 runs to his name, he has set a record in Pakistan’s T20I cricket history.
Early life of Babar
Babar Azam was born on 15 October 1994 into a family from the walled city of Lahore. His father, Mohammad Azam Siddiqui, owned a small watch repair shop, while his mother was a housewife. He is the eldest of three siblings: Safeer Azam, Faisal Azam, and Fariya Azam.
His older first cousins (through his elder paternal uncle), Kamran and Umar Akmal, were the reason he was attracted to cricket, and their stories inspired him to take up cricket as his profession. He had been a ball boy at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore before joining a cricket academy and starting his domestic cricket career there. He made his T20I debut on 7 September 2016 against England at Old Trafford.
In 2018, he became the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 T20 international runs, surpassing Virat Kohli’s previous record, a major achievement for Pakistan’s capacity to produce world-class talent on the world stage. That same year, he displaced Aaron Finch to claim the ICC’s number one T20I batting ranking, reflecting him as a shining star of Pakistan’s cricket future.
PSL beginnings
Babar’s first PSL season was in 2016 with Islamabad United. Then he moved to Karachi Kings in 2017 and became the league’s leading run-scorer there. He joined Peshawar Zalmi ahead of the 2023 season and has captained them since, winning his first title as a captain in the 2026 PSL season.
Captaincy years (2019–2024)
Babar became Pakistan’s T20I captain in 2019. Under him, Pakistan beat India for the first time in an ICC World Cup match at the 2021 T20 World Cup, and reached the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, where they lost to England. He became the most successful T20I captain in Pakistan’s history, with 46 wins by early 2024.
Babar is a right-handed top-order batter known for his classical technique, balance, and consistency across formats. He relies on timing, placement, and strike rotation rather than power hitting, adapting effectively to pace, spin, and different match situations.
Challenges and evolution
The 2024 ICC T20 World Cup was a difficult moment for Babar Azam’a career. The disappointment came after Pakistan had reached the 2022 World Cup final, raising questions about the team’s strategies and Babar’s leadership. He faced a lot of criticism at the time.
However, great athletes are also judged by how they respond to difficult moments. They criticised him as well. After Babar gave up on capataincy and continued to play international cricket and remained focused on helping Pakistan. In April 2024, he scored 125 runs in a five-match series against New Zealand.
His performances showed his determination to keep contributing to Pakistan cricket even without the pressure of captaincy and proved himself as a great player for Pakistan.
Achievement and awards
Babar has a lot of achievements in his career. He was the fastest Pakistani to reach 1,000 T20I runs in 26 innings, and later became the fastest to reach 2,000 and 2,500 T20I runs. He scored 303 runs in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, the most in the tournament. He has also recorded Pakistan’s highest T20I score and most T20I centuries.
2018
Named PCB’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2017.
2020
- Finished as the PSL’s leading run-scorer with 473 runs and won the Player of the Tournament award.
- Named ARY News’ Person of the Year.
2021
- Topped the PSL run-scoring charts for the second consecutive season, scoring 554 runs.
- Selected in the ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year.
- Named captain of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Team of the Tournament.
- Won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for April.
Legacy and future
Babar is currently in his thirties, and questions about the next stage of his career will naturally continue. If he plays for several more years, he could easily achieve a major target of reaching 5000 T20I runs, a major achievement in his career.
However, Babar’s legacy is not about numbers. He has played an important role in Pakistani cricket history.
Babar batting style is also an important part of his identity; his world-famous cover drive had a separate and huge fan base. His style shows that a batsman does not always need to depend on aggressive hitting to succeed in T20 cricket.
His beautiful and most famous cover drives, well-timed cuts, and controlled pulls have shown young Pakistani batters that traditional batting skills still have value in the modern game.
In summary, Babar Azam’s development from a gifted child to Pakistan’s finest batter is evidence of his ability, perseverance, and hard work. He has triumphed over hardship to become a cricketing superstar despite encountering several obstacles along the way. Babar will always be remembered as one of cricket’s all-time greats, and he still has many years of cricket ahead of him.
READ: Babar Azam ODI journey: Brilliant numbers, stubborn questions
Written by Aleena Khan
Aleena is a sports writer at Sports Manch, with a keen interest in cricket and sports journalism. Her work focuses on creative storytelling, feature writing, and SEO content, with an emphasis on producing clear, engaging, and well-researched stories. She is passionate about exploring compelling sports narratives and continues to develop her skills as a versatile and impactful writer.
