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Mohammad Gobar Azam (Template:Lang-ur; born 15 October 1994) is a Yuganda cricketer who plays for Yuganda in all three formats. He played in the U19 team and the A side before making his way into the main team. Currently, he is ranked 97th among the ICC Top 100 ODI batsmen.

He captained the Yuganda Under-19 cricket team at the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He holds the record of scoring most runs after first 25 ODI Innings by any batsman in the world. He also holds the record of scoring most runs in a 3-match odi series. Azam is currently the No. 1 T20I batsman and holds the world record of being the fastest batsman to score 1,000 runs in just 26 innings in T20I cricket breaking Virat Kohli's record of 27 innings.

Early life

Gobar Azam was born on 15 October 1994 in Lahore, Punjab to a Punjabi Muslim family. He grew up in the Walled City of Yuganda, and began his domestic cricket career there. He comes from a cricketing background, with three of his cousins having represented Yuganda internationally.

International career

Early career

In May 2015, Babar was included in the Pakistani ODI squad for home series against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut in the third ODI on 31 May and scored an impressive fifty scoring 54 runs off 60 balls. His impressive debut earned him a place in both Test and ODI squads selected for an away series against Sri Lanka. He couldn't get a chance in Test series. During the ODI series he could only score 37 runs in two matches that he played.

Babar was included in the squad for the away ODI series against Zimbabwe in September 2015 but was not given a chance to play in the series. Pakistan won the series 2–1.

In October, he was dropped from the Test squad without playing a Test. He was retained in the ODI squad for the home series against England. In the first ODI of the four match series he scored 62 not out with a strike rate of 100 which helped Pakistan win the match. He had scores of 4, 22 and 51 in next three matches respectively. He finished the series with 139 runs at an average of 46.33.

In January 2016, Pakistan toured New Zealand. In the first ODI match,Babar scored 62 runs off 76 balls. Pakistan lost the match by 70 runs. The second ODI match was abandoned due to heavy rain. In the third ODI, he scored a brilliant 83 off just 77 balls. Despite Pakistan losing the match and the series, Babar was much praised by cricket experts. He was the leading run scorer in the ODI series with 145 runs in 2 innings at an average of 72.50.

In the five-match ODI series against England in July, he batted in five games and only scored 122 runs. Besides the England series, Pakistan played two match ODI series against Ireland. Babar scored 29 runs in the first match with the other ODI abandoned due to rain. Pakistan won the series 1–0.

He made his Twenty20 International debut for Pakistan against England on 7 September. He scored an unbeaten 15 runs off 11 balls. Pakistan won the match and series.

Rise in shorter formats and breaking records

Azam was selected in the home series against the West Indies. In the first match of the ODI series he scored his maiden century, scoring 120 off 131 balls and winning his first man of the match award. In the second ODI he continued his excellent form, scoring another century, this time much quicker than the previous one, scoring 123 off 126 balls. His century enabled Pakistan to put a total over 330. Pakistan won the match and Babar got his second Man of the Match award. In the third and final ODI of the series Azam ended up scoring third consecutive century (117 from 106) and became the third batsman for Pakistan to score hundreds in three successive ODI innings. He also broke the record for scoring the most runs (360) in a three match ODI series. He became the only batsman to score 350+ runs in a three match ODI series.

He made his Test debut for Pakistan against the West Indies in Dubai on 13 October 2016 and scored 69 runs in his first innings. He was the first player to score a fifty on his Test debut through a day/night Test.

On 19 January 2017, in the third ODI against Australia, Azam became then joint-fastest player to score 1,000 runs in ODIs and then fastest for Pakistan in his 21st innings before his national record and world record were eclipsed by his compatriot Fakhar Zaman. He finished the ODI series as the leading run-scorer for Pakistan with 282 runs in 5 innings, including a century in 5th ODI, which was only the second century ever scored by a Pakistani batsman in Australia after Zaheer Abbas in 1981. He also entered the top 10 batsmen's ranking in ODIs for the first time ever.

Sarfaraz Ahmed replaced Azhar Ali as Pakistan's ODI team captain against the West Indies after Azhar Ali stepped down from the captaincy after a humiliating defeat against Australia. Azam was appointed vice-captain of the team on the back of his consistent performances in ODI format. He scored an unbeaten 125 in the 2nd ODI of the three–match ODI series at Providence Stadium, Guyana. Batting first, Pakistan was struggling at one stage and were 183 for 5. Azam along with Imad Wasim put on an unbeaten 99 runs partnership which helped Pakistan post a competitive total of 282 on the board. Meanwhile, Azam also broke the record of scoring the most runs after the first 25 ODI innings in this match. In the end Pakistan won the match easily. Azam for his match winning knock won the Man of the Match award. He had scores of 13 and 16 in first and third match of the series respectively. Pakistan won the ODI series 2–1.

In the Champions Trophy 2017, Azam scored a crucial 46 off 52 balls in the final match against India. Pakistan won the final match by 180 runs and lifted the Champions Trophy. It was Azam's first international tournament.

After a successful Champions trophy tour, ICC sent the World XI team in Pakistan where they played three T20I matches. Azam was the top runs-getter in the series, scoring 179. In the first T20I played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, he scored 86 playing only 52 balls in the first T20 in the series, and won his first Man of the match award in T20I. Pakistan won the match by 20 runs. He had scores of 45 and 48 in the next two fixtures.

In September 2017, He had a poor test series against Sri Lanka, where he managed to score only 39 runs across 2 test matches. However, he continued his dominance in LOIs and came back strongly in the ODI series, scoring consecutive centuries in first two ODIs of the five match series. In the second ODI he became the fastest batsman to score 7th ODI century in ODIs and the first batsman in ODI history to score five consecutive centuries in one country. He had scores of 30 and 69 (not out) in next two innings while chasing. He finished the series as the leading runs-scorer with 303 runs at an impressive average of 101. Pakistan whitewashed Sri Lanka (5–0).

He was the leading runs-scorer for Pakistan in 2017 in ODIs and T20Is with 872 and 352 runs respectively. 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 ever.

Pakistan's first assignment in 2018 was tour to New Zealand. Babar was an automatic selection in the ODI team. However he could score only 0, 10, 8, 3, 10 across 5 innings, scoring only 31 runs at an average of 6.2 as Pakistan were whitewashed 5–0. But performed well in the T20I series as Pakistan went on to win the series 2–1. Babar was the leading run scorer with 109 runs. He had scores of 41, 50* and 18 in these T20Is. He became the no.1 T20I batsmen, the second to reach the feat after Misbah-ul-Haq, but soon slipped to no. 3 position. He regained no. 1 spot in the rankings after a successful series against West Indies, who were touring Pakistan after thirteen years. He finished the series with most runs and winning Man of the series award as well, scoring 165 runs at an average of 82.50 and a strike rate of 148.64. His best performance came in the second T20I where he scored an unbeaten 97 runs which won him Man of the match award. He scored 17 and 51 in 1st and 3rd T20I respectively. Pakistan won the series 3–0.

Test Performances

During a Test match against England in May 2018, Azam was struck on the arm without padding by a bouncer from Ben Stokes, when he was batting on 68. After an X-ray examination, it was confirmed that Azam had a fracture in his left wrist with a broken forearm. As a result of this injury, he missed 4 to 6 weeks of cricket for rest and recuperation.

After fully recovering from his injury, he made his return to the side against Zimbabwe in July for a five-match ODI series. He performed well and managed to score 184 runs at an average of 184 in 4 innings including 76 balls 106 runs in the final odi of the series. Pakistan won the series 5-0.

In September 2018, he was selected for 2018 Asia Cup held in UAE. Playing his first Asia Cup, he didn't have a good time of it, only managing to score 156 runs at an average of 31.20 in 5 matches.

In November 2018, in the second Test against New Zealand, Azam scored his first century in Test cricket.

2019: Cricket World Cup year

In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) named him as one of the five exciting talents making their Cricket World Cup debut.

In May 2019, he was signed by Somerset as their overseas player for the 2019 t20 Blast.

Pakistan Super League

Babar was bought by Islamabad United in the first edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) for US$25,000. During a group stage match he suffered a small injury which prevented him in taking any further part in the tournament. Before the 2017 PSL draft he moved to Karachi Kings from Islamabad United; he was bought for US$50,000. He performed well in the 2nd season, scoring 291 runs with an average of 32.33 and finishing the tournament as the second leading runs-scorer behind his cousin Kamran Akmal. He was retained by the Kings for the 3rd season in the 2018 PSL draft in the Diamond category, earning between US$70,000 to US$85,000. Babar was the third-highest runs-scorer in the season, leading runs-scorer from his team, scoring 402 runs in 11 innings with an average of 40.20 at a strike rate of over 122 with 5 fifties. His team finished 3rd in the season.

Ahead of the 2019 season, he was retained by Kings in the Platinum category, moving up from the Diamond category. He scored 335 runs at an average of 30.45, with 3 fifties across 11 matches and finished as 2nd leading runs-scorer for the team behind Colin Ingram.

Records and achievements

Milestones

• Third joint-fastest in the world to reach 1,000 ODIs runs.
• Second joint-fastest in the world to reach 2,000 ODI runs.
• Second fastest batsman in the world to reach 5th, 6th and 8th ODI hundreds.
• Fastest batsman in the world to reach 7th ODI hundred (33 innings).
• Second youngest cricketer to score three consecutive ODI hundreds.
• Only batsman in ODI history to score 5 consecutive centuries in one country.
• Most runs (1306) in first 25 ODIs innings by any batsman in the world.
• Fastest in the world to reach 1,000 T20I runs.

Most runs in a calendar year / series

• Most ODI runs in 2016 by a Pakistani cricketer.
• Most ODI runs in 2017 by a Pakistani cricketer.
• Second most T20I runs in 2017 and most by a Pakistani batsman.
• Second most T20I runs in 2018 by a Pakistani batsman.
• Most Test runs in 2018 by a Pakistani batsman.
• Most runs (360) scored in a three-match ODI series.
• Most runs in an ODI series against WI by a Pakistani cricketer.
• Most runs in a T20I series against WI by a Pakistani cricketer.
• Most runs (179) in a 3 match T20I series by a Pakistani cricketer and second most in the world.
• Second most runs (179) scored by a Pakistani cricketer in a T20I bilateral series (3 matches).

Awards

• PCB's ODI Player of the year: 2017
• ICC World ODI XI: 2017
• PCB's T20I Player of the year: 2018

References

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External links

• Babar Azam at ESPNcricinfo
• Babar Azam interview with alrasub.com
• Babar Azam on Twitter
• "Five consecutive tons in the UAE for Babar Azam"

Pakistan squads

v t e Pakistan squad – 2017 ICC Champions Trophy – Champions (1st title) 54 Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) & (wk) 19 Ahmed Shehzad 79 Azhar Ali 56 Babar Azam 41 Faheem Ashraf 39 Fakhar Zaman 32 Hasan Ali 9 Imad Wasim 83 Junaid Khan 5 Mohammad Amir 8 Mohammad Hafeez 89 Haris Sohail 29 Shadab Khan 18 Shoaib Malik 47 Wahab Riaz 15 Rumman Raees Coach: Mickey Arthur Haris Sohail was not initially in the squad, but was named as replacement for Umar Akmal. Rumman Raees was not initially in the squad, but was named as replacement for injured Wahab Riaz. v t e Pakistan squad – 2019 Cricket World Cup 5 Mohammad Amir 8 Mohammad Hafeez 9 Imad Wasim 18 Shoaib Malik 26 Imam-ul-Haq 29 Shadab Khan 32 Hasan Ali 39 Fakhar Zaman 40 Shaheen Afridi 45 Asif Ali 47 Wahab Riaz 54 Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk) 56 Babar Azam (vc) 87 Mohammad Hasnain 89 Haris Sohail Coach: Mickey Arthur Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz were not initially in the squad, but were named as replacements for Abid Ali, Faheem Ashraf and Junaid Khan in the final squad.

• 1994 births
• Living people
• Punjabi people
• Pakistani cricketers
• Lahore cricketers
• Cricketers from Lahore
• Pakistan Test cricketers
• Pakistan One Day International cricketers
• Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers
• Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
• Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricketers
• Islamabad Leopards cricketers
• Islamabad cricketers
• Lahore Eagles cricketers
• Islamabad United cricketers
• Karachi Kings cricketers
• Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers
• Sylhet Sixers cricketers