"I'll go so far as to say, at the same age, I reckon he's as good as Virat Kohli, which I know is high praise but he's right up there."
These are words from Pakistan coach, Mickey Arthur, about 22-year-old Babar Azam after he had made a brilliant 90 off 196 balls against New Zealand in the second Test of the series against them last week. It was just his 3rd Test and Azam showed grit and temperament, punching above his weight to stand out among his teammates in waging a lone battle against Southee, who was ripping apart the rest of the line-up.
Early Career
Babar Azam was born in Lahore and came up the ladder of age-group cricket, playing the under-15 championship in 2008 and featuring in the under-19 World Cup in 2010 and 2012. He skippered in the 2012 edition and was also the leading run scorer for Pakistan. He has interesting relations within the Pakistani national side as the trio of Akmal brothers (Kamran, Umar and Adnan) are his first cousins.
Strangely, his debut came in Pakistan, where the side has rarely played a game in the past few years. However, Zimbabwe decided to tour Pakistan, and Babar Azam won a debut on May 31, 2015. He made his debut in front of his home crowd at Lahore and made it memorable with a half century, 54, that came in 60 balls.
He hit a couple more half-centuries in 2015 in the series against England in their adopted home. In a tightly packed middle order comprising of Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Sarfraz Ahmed, Babar was slotted in at no.4 in most games, though he tried his hand at opening at the start of the England series without success.
The turnaround year
2016 turned out to be a year that brought about a huge change in the fortunes of the then 21-year-old Babar. He started the year in blazing fashion in New Zealand. A 62 in Wellington in the first ODI was followed up with an 83 at Auckland in the third ODI after the second ODI was washed out.
Then came the series against England in England where he had a run of average form against a rejuvenated England limited overs line-up. Azam had just 122 runs to show for in 5 matches in the series, averaging just 24.40. Azam was included in the T20 squad too and made his T20I debut against England, but failed to find his touch. A determined Azam returned to UAE for the series against West Indies that turned his career around.
The series against Windies
He started the series against Windies with a half-century in the first T20I, but his fine run came in the following ODIs. Azam, who was promoted to no.3, smashed consecutive centuries at Sharjah and followed it up with a third one in Abu Dhabi, helping his side whitewash the Windies and earning a Man of the Series award after snatching the Man of the Match in each of the three ODIs.
The move to no.3 seemed to aid Azam, who went on to make 120 off 131 balls in the first ODI at Sharjah. The knock was a patient, yet solid one, with eight fours and three sixes.
In the second ODI, Azam made another composed century, a 123 off 126 balls with nine fours and a six. The knock took his side to a match-winning total of 337.
In Abu Dhabi, Azam was in no mood to stop his juggernaut and smashed an 117 off 106 balls, with eight fours and a six. His century helped Pakistan to another 300+ total.
Broken Records
Azam broke quite a few records with his majestic run of form in the series. Only Quinton de Kock had scored centuries in all three matches of a three-match series. But Azam went past de Kock's tally of most runs in a bilateral series of three matches, scoring 360 runs.
Azam became the eighth batsman to score three or more centuries in consecutive ODI innings. The series placed him on a pedestal among the array of young Pakistani batsmen and also helped him climb on the list of most runs for the year.
At present, Azam stands at 8th in the list of most runs scored in 2016, one position below Virat Kohli. Azam has 656 runs in 11 ODIs in 2016 at an average of 59.63, notching up three hundred and two half-centuries in the year.
His majestic ODI series meant he was called up to the Test side for the first time and promptly made a half-century on debut. He was named in the squad to tour New Zealand in November and after a disappointing display in Wellington, smashed an unbeaten 90 in Hamilton, guiding his team to an average total while others succumbed to Southee's superb bowling.
Future promise
In Babar Azam, Pakistan have an able batsman with a steady head. He is also a decent part-time off-spinner that has not yet been used in the International arena.
With the likes of Younis Khan ageing and Shoaib Malik and Misbah hanging up their boots in ODIs, Babar Azam is Pakistan's hope for a bright career in the middle order. They are seriously short of talented batsman who can put a price on their wicket and make huge scores. In his brief career thus far, Azam has displayed a penchant for scoring big and shown responsibility and maturity beyond his age.
Mickey Arthur's comparison of Azam with India's most celebrated batsman of this generation, Virat Kohli, may not be misplaced. Kohli, at the same age as Azam is currently, 22 years and 48 days*, had not yet made it into the Test side with Indian boasting of some big names in their batting line-up. In ODIs, Kohli had made 1479 runs from 40 matches, averaging 46.21 with four hundreds to his name.
Azam, meanwhile, has figured in 18 ODIs till date and racked up 886 runs at an average of 52.11 with three centuries and five half-centuries while his T20I career has just begun. In Tests, he has carried on his ODI form and scored a total of 232 runs with two fifties. Interestingly, Kohli had an abysmal start in Tests in West Indies in 2011.
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