Pakistan former skipper Babar Azam gestures after scoring a century (100 runs) through the first day of the primary cricket Take a look at match between Pakistan and New Zealand on the Nationwide Stadium in Karachi on December 26, 2022. — AFP
Babar Azam was on high of the world two years in the past — Pakistan captain and top-rated batsman in all three codecs — however he’ll rejoice his thirtieth birthday at residence on Tuesday when the second Take a look at in opposition to England begins in Multan.
Pakistan on Sunday ignored Babar from the remaining Assessments squad after a poor run of kind the place he has didn’t move fifty in his final 18 Take a look at innings.
It’s the first time Babar has been dropped from the Pakistan staff since his white-ball debut in opposition to Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015 and Take a look at baptism in opposition to the West Indies a 12 months later.
The maestro shot to prominence with three successive tons of in an ODI sequence in opposition to the West Indies in 2016.
He changed India nice Virat Kohli as world primary ODI batsman 5 years later, a spot he nonetheless occupies having been briefly deposed in between.
He’s nonetheless ranked fourth amongst Twenty20 batsmen however it’s the lengthy format the place his kind has suffered probably the most and his hunch has seen him fall outdoors the world’s high 10.
A 13-year-old Babar, crammed with aspirations and expertise, was a ball boy in Pakistan’s Take a look at in opposition to South Africa in Lahore in 2007, the place he might watch his childhood idol AB de Villiers.
From the streets of Lahore he rose to play within the 2010 Beneath-19 World Cup in New Zealand, topping the batting charts for Pakistan with 298 runs in six video games.
Two years in on the U19 World Cup in Australia he was captain and once more main run-scorer, with 287.
In 2015 he was picked for the senior aspect and after thrilling within the white-ball sport developed right into a modern-day nice in all three codecs, typically drawing comparability with Kohli.
His opening partnership with Mohammad Rizwan in Twenty20s has realised 3,268 runs in 70 innings — probably the most by a pair within the format.
He anchored Pakistan’s solely T20 World Cup win over arch-rivals India in 2021 in Dubai.
He hit an epic 196 in opposition to the famed Australian tempo assault of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to attract a Take a look at in Karachi in 2022 — hailed as one of many biggest innings in Pakistan.
However the stress of captaining a struggling Pakistan took its toll and commenced to have an effect on Babar’s kind with the bat.
When the Pakistan Cricket Board hierarchy modified in April this 12 months he was reinstated as white-ball skipper and he resigned for a second time earlier this month.
