Babar Azam

If someone gives dollar bills to each batsman who plays a jaw-dropping cover-drive, then Babar Azam would become a billionaire in no time. 

Pakistan’s modern-day genius, Babar is a staggering batsman who has a solid technique with an aggressive approach to the game. In the last couple of years, he has emerged as one of the best batsmen in world cricket and has been called Pakistan’s answer to Virat Kohli. 

The right-handed batsman came into the limelight during the U-15 World Championship in 2008. He played the U-19 World Cup in the 2010 and 2012 editions and ended both tournaments as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer. 

After a successful 2010 Junior World Cup, the young batsman made his domestic debut for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, before playing for the State Bank of Pakistan team and then shifted to Central Punjab. 

The Lahore-born piled up thousands of runs in the domestic arena and was called a star even before making it into the international scene. 

In May 2015, the promising batsman was included in the squad for the ODI against Zimbabwe. It was a historic series, where international cricket returned to the country after six years. 

He scored a half-century on debut. 

Babar again impressed everyone with two consecutive fifties against New Zealand Down Under. 

In 2016, when he blasted three back-to-back hundreds against West Indies, the whole cricketing fraternity came in awe of his ‘sheer class’. 

On the back of his brilliance in the ODIs, he was awarded both Test and T20I caps. 

Babar made his T20I debut against England at Manchester, in September 2016, and soon made his maiden Test appearance in October against West Indies, at Dubai. 

Although, after a fairy start, Babar got exposed in Australia during the 2016-17 series, but Mickey Arthur (then head coach) backed the future star for good.  

Babar was a part of Pakistan's squad that won the 2017 Champions Trophy. He had an under-par event as per his standards, however, the young batter played a fluent knock of 46 runs in the final against India. He backed his average outings at the ICC event with two centuries on a trot against the Lankans. 

In 2019, during the preparations for the World Cup, Babar was in astonishing form and played superbly against the Blackcaps, South Africa, and England. He had a great World Cup as well, where he scored 474 runs that consisted of a century and a well-tailored 96. 

Along with his accomplishments in the longer formats, Babar has stepped up in the T20I format and emerged to be the best batter across the globe. In October 2018, he secured first place in the ICC’s T20I rankings.

Over the years, he has given his services to franchise-based leagues like T20 Blast, CPL and BPL. Not to be forgotten, he has been a star-performer in Pakistan Super League, where he regularly plays for Karachi Kings. He ended the 2020 season as the highest run-scorer and took his club to their maiden PSL title. 

Babar Azam has emerged to be the best modern-day cricketer since making his debut in 2015. He has the capability of becoming the first Pakistani to get to the ten-grand mark in both Tests and ODIs.

(As of March 2021)