Babar Azam – the glue that holds the team together

A lot is riding on the young shoulders of Babar Azam as Pakistan head into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, with their opening fixture against the West Indies on May 31.

Babar Azam, the number one T20I batsman in the world and ranked number 7 in ICC ODI rankings, is without question Pakistan’s best batsman in the World Cup, and will be carrying the bulk of the nation’s expectations as the cricket-mad country looks at him to drive the team forward in the six-week long mega event.

ODI stats at a glance

Since making his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in May 2015, Babar Azam has played 64 fifty-over internationals, scoring 2,739 runs at an enviable average of 51.67 and a strike rate of 85.96. His best score of 125* (off 132 balls) came against the West Indies in the second ODI at Providence in April 2017.

Dethroning Kohli

The 24-year-old Babar Azam, who is often termed the ‘Virat Kohli of Pakistan’, is the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 T20I runs, taking 26 innings to get there and dethroning the Indian skipper in the process. Kohli had reached the mark in 27 innings.

His rise has coincided with Pakistan's jump to the world number one ranking in T20Is, since he debuted against England at Old Trafford in 2016 when Sarfraz Ahmed took charge as captain.

The elite club

Babar Azam also reached 1,000 ODI runs in 21 innings, entering an elite club where he equaled the record with West Indian legend Sir Viv Richards, England duo of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock. He achieved the feat after reaching 47 not out against Australia in Perth in the third one-day international between Pakistan and Australia in January 2017.

The record held until Pakistan team mate Fakhar Zaman broke it last year.

Three centuries in eight days

Babar Azam rose to prominence in the ODI series against the West Indies in October 2016, when he smashed three centuries (120, 123 and 117) in the space of eight days, becoming only the second player after Quinton de Kock to make three tons in a three-match series.

He also became the first Pakistani to score centuries in all three games of a three-match bilateral ODI series, and collectively the third Pakistani, after legends Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar, to score three consecutive centuries.

With these centuries, Babar Azam also achieved the record of most runs in a three-match bilateral ODI series. He collectively scored 360 runs in the series to surpass 342 runs by Quinton de Kock.

Interesting trivia: Babar Azam is the only player to have scored a career's first three ODI centuries in successive innings, and the only player to score five hundreds in a row in one country (the UAE). He already has more ODI hundreds at number 3 than any other Pakistan batsman ever.

The ‘Virat Kohli of Pakistan’?

It’s no wonder, then, that the youngster has drawn high praise from all quarters.

“We have some serious batsmen in our team but he has the ability to be as good as anyone in the world,” head coach Mickey Arthur, who has compared Babar Azam with Virat Kohli, recently said of the right-handed batsman. “If he’s getting us a 100, we’re comfortable we have the batsmen around him to get 300-320.

“Over the last two years, his strike rate is around 80 and he knows he needs to increase that, as do some of the other batsmen and we’ve spoken about that.”

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke heaped praise on the batsman after he smashed a century in Pakistan’s first warm-up game against Afghanistan on Friday.

“Babar Azam is real class no doubt about that. For me, he’s the Virat Kohli of Pakistan’s line-up. If Pakistan want to qualify for the semi-finals or final, a lot will depend on his young shoulders,” Clarke said during commentary.

Azam scored 112 off 108 balls but rest of the Pakistan batsmen failed as Afghanistan restricted them to 262 in 47.5 overs.

Babar Azam, although flattered, is firmly rooted to the ground.

"It’s flattering to be compared to Kohli," he once spoke of the comparison. "[Kohli] is very consistent, and his mindset is very good. He gives 100 per cent every time he walks out to bat. I am at the start of my career, so the aim is to be like him, and be the epitome of performance in each of Pakistan's wins."

The curious case of the strike rate 

Babar Azam's strike rate of 85.96 may not be too impressive in view of the requirements of modern-day cricket, but it can be argued that the figure complements his role as an anchor who, with his mere presence on the crease, potentially avoids a batting collapse. 

His strike rate is not helped by the rest of the batting lineup either. Pakistan's middle and lower order lacks power hitting, a fact that was laid bare by the recent ODI series against England where Pakistan managed to score 361, 358, 340 and 297 but were still outsmarted by England each time.  

The lack of lower-order power hitting places additional burden on Azam to improve his strike rate, but at an occasion where the rest of the team fails to stay on the wicket and score runs, how justified is the criticism?

In Pakistan's warm-up game against Afghanistan on May 24, Babar Azam hit 112 off 108 balls at a strike rate of 103. The ten other Pakistani batsmen managed to put together 147/9 off 179 balls at a strike rate of 82. 

"You made the laziest century in the history of cricket.." - Little wonder, then, that the journalist who made the remark to Babar Azam during the post-match conference was not only given a befitting and dignified reply by the batsman, but also mocked widely on social media.

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