Tag: Babar Azam

  • Will Shaheen Afridi become Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team? Shaheen speaks out

    Will Shaheen Afridi become Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team? Shaheen speaks out

    Star pacer of the Pakistan cricket team Shaheen Shah Afridi praised the captaincy of the national team’s all-format skipper Babar Azam and wished for him to continue in this role for at least 10-15 years. The speedster said that he has no plan to captain the team as Babar is leading the team brilliantly.

    Read More – PM Khan predicts winning team of PSL 7

    In a pre-Pakistan Super League (PSL 7) media conference, Lahore Qalandars’ newly appointed captain Afridi was asked whether he would like to do the captaincy of the Pakistan team in the future.

    “I don’t have any plans for now as Babar is leading the side so well. Under his captaincy, the team gelled strongly and performed. I wish he continues as captain for at least 10-15 years,” he responded.

    “In the future, if any opportunity comes to me, I would love to do it for my country. But, for now, I want Babar to continue for long,” he added.

    It must be noted here that Shaheen and Babar will be leading their respective franchises Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings for the first time in PSL 7.

  • Babar declared captain of ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year, Rizwan, Shaheen included

    Babar declared captain of ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year, Rizwan, Shaheen included

    International Cricket Council (ICC) has recognised 11 cricketers from different teams for their exceptional performance in cricket. Pakistan all-format skipper Babar Azam has been declared the captain of the team after his prolific stint in the ICC T20 World Cup.

    Pakistan’s star players, wicket keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and bowling sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi, also made it to the team.

    In a statement issued for the announcement of Men’s T20I Team of the Year, the ICC said that it is to recognise 11 outstanding individuals who have impressed one and all, “be it with the bat, the ball or their all-round exploits in a calendar year.”

    Here is a look at the players who made it to the team from Pakistan.

    Babar Azam

    The Pakistan skipper was at his classy best in the shortest format in 2021, leaving his best at the T20 World Cup where he ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer.

    Overall, Babar played 29 matches and aggregated 939 runs at an average of 37.56 with one century and nine half-centuries. His captaincy was also praised as he led his team to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman.

    Mohammad Rizwan

    The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter ruled the roost in 2021 when it came to the shortest format of the game. Aggregating a staggering 1,326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan struck at an average of 73.66 and a strike-rate of 134.89.

    Apart from his exploits with the bat, he was as solid as ever behind the stumps, playing a key role in Pakistan’s run to the semis during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, where he ended up as the third-highest run-scorer.

    Shaheen Afridi

    It was a year to remember for Shaheen Afridi, especially in the shortest form of the game. Extracting brilliant movement with the new ball and reversing it with the old, Afridi picked up 23 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 26.04 and an economy of 7.86.

    Still only 21, Shaheen will likely lead the Pakistan pace bowling unit for years to come and with already rapid improvements in his bowling, he will undoubtedly prove to be a fearsome prospect.

    The others include Jos Buttler of England, Aiden Markram of South Africa, Mitchell Marsh of Australia, David Miller of South Africa, Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka, Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa, Josh Hazlewood of Australia, and Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh.

  • Video of young Babar Azam bowling in U19 World Cup goes viral

    Video of young Babar Azam bowling in U19 World Cup goes viral

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently shared a throwback video of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s bowling during the semi-final of the under 19 Cricket World Cup.

    “Do you remember when Babar Azam took a wicket in the semi-finals of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2010?” the ICC captioned the 11-year-old video.

    In the video, Babar can be seen bowling against a West Indies batter and managed to take a wicket as well.

    The video is doing the rounds on social media and fans are loving it.

  • Former cricketer Aqib Javed opposes PSL anthem

    Former cricketer Aqib Javed opposes PSL anthem

    Former Pakistan Test cricketer Aqib Javed has said that every year a new anthem of Pakistan Super League (PSL) is unnecessary.

    “There is no need for an advertising campaign; it is just a plain waste of money. Nobody wants to see singers,” the former head coach said while speaking to Geo News.

    Javed said that money should not be wasted on songs, there is no star bigger than cricketers and fans want to see Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam, not singers.

    “But now, fans come to watch Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and other cricketers in action. There’s no bigger star than the cricketers. People don’t come before the matches to see the singers,” he said.

    He further added that now there is no need for publicity campaign. Fans want to see cricketers in action and the song “Groove Mera” which is popular should be permanent.

    Speaking about his team’s anthems, he said the franchise had released several songs, but none of the songs were as famous as the first one.

    He said that the proposal of PCB chairman Ramiz Raja to hold a four-nation cricket series was good.

  • ‘Lovely surprise’: Shoaib Malik thanks Atif Aslam for popping up at restaurant launch

    ‘Lovely surprise’: Shoaib Malik thanks Atif Aslam for popping up at restaurant launch

    Former Pakistan Cricket Team Captain Shoaib Malik has launched his restaurant “Rice Bowl” in Lahore and hosted a star-studded event. Many Pakistani cricketers including skipper Babar Azam, Wahab Riaz, Waqar Younis, Ahmed Shahzad, Kamran Akmal, Usman Qadir, Hassan Ali among others were present at the launch party.

    Pakistani superstar Atif Aslam also popped up at the launch party, joing the others at dinner.

    Taking to Twitter, Malik thanked Atif, saying: “What a lovely surprise it was @itsaadee to see you pop out of the blue at the launch of #RiceBowl earlier today…”

    “Sir tussi great ho, love you,” he added.

    Veteran cricketers Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saqlain Mushtaq were also spotted at the inaugaration ceremony.

    Malik thanked everyone saying that they graced the launch event.

    Atif also met all the cricketers. In a video widely circulating on social media, they can be seen hugging and shaking hands.

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam recalls the time when his cousins refused to lend him shoes

    VIDEO: Babar Azam recalls the time when his cousins refused to lend him shoes

    A video of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is being widely shared on Twitter from an interview with former Pakistan Cricket team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, in which he can be seen talking about his past and recalled an incident when he requested his cousins to lend him an extra pair of shoes and they refused to give them to him.

    While in conversation with Inzamam, Babar said that he used to play cricket in the streets and then he joined a cricket club. He said: “When you join a club, you need kits for that. Firstly, I used to borrow kits from fellow trainees but after a month I realised that I also need one. I told my papa that I need a kit but he said that he can not afford it. My mother got to know about this and told me she has saved some money. She gave me about 3500 rupees and I bought a bat worth rupees1500. That was the best moment for me.” Babar shared he still has that bat in his old house.

    He further shared: “When I was first selected for under 15, I asked my cousins if they have extra pair of shoes for me but they said ‘No, we don’t’. That is when I decided not to borrow anything and will do everything on my own from here.”

    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.

    In September 2019, before the home series against Sri Lanka, he was named as the vice-captain of Pakistan cricket team in both ODIs and T20Is, on the back of his consistent performances in these formats. In October 2019, he was named captain of the Pakistan cricket team in T20Is, ahead of a series with Australia.

    Recently, the all-format captain was also given the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ODI Player of the Year award.

  • ‘That’s me’: ‘Phuppo ki beti’ with Babar Azam revealed

    ‘That’s me’: ‘Phuppo ki beti’ with Babar Azam revealed

    A picture of a girl buttoning up Pakistan all-format cricket Skipper Babar Azam’s coat has been widely shared on social media and netizens are making assumptions about who the girl is. It has been revealed that the girl is Abeeha Mamoon, a Dubai based stylist and makeup artist.

    Commenting under The Current’s post on Instagram, the girl said: “That’s me! A stylist and makeup artist from Dubai. Was working on a shoot with him!”

    Reacting on the post, she said that “this is hilarious”.

    Babar is in Karachi and will soon enter quarantine for the upcoming seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The 27-year-old cricketer will be leading Karachi Kings in this edition.

  • ‘Phupho ki beti?’: Twitter confused over picture of girl with Babar, buttoning up his coat

    ‘Phupho ki beti?’: Twitter confused over picture of girl with Babar, buttoning up his coat

    Pakistani Twitter is confused after two pictures of Pakistan Skipper Babar Azam with a girl, who is buttoning up his coat, starting circulating on the social media. Netizens are confused about who the girl is. Babar is currently single.

    Tweeple have writen some very cool assumptions about who the girl can be.

    https://twitter.com/kashafayy/status/1479331481847803906?s=20

    One user wrote that if she’s a stylist.

    The another one wrote: “I think ye Babar ki phopho ki beti hai. Jis se uski mangni honey wali thi. (I thinks she is Babar’s aunt’s daughter to whom he was getting engaged).”

    One of the user asked the girl to follow Covid-19 SOPs.

    https://twitter.com/MasomAriba/status/1479183826010136576?s=20

    Earlier, the 27-year-old cricketer was accused by a girl of sexual harassment but in a massive relief for Babar, the Pakistan cricket team captain was cleared of all allegations as the woman who had complained withdrew the allegations.

    It was also reported earlier that Babar had gotten engaged to his paternal cousin. The news was not officially confirmed but it was also reported that Azam will tie the knot next year, adding that the decision was taken after the two families agreed to the proposal.

  • Most Valuable Cricketer: Mohammad Rizwan shines in PCB Awards

    Most Valuable Cricketer: Mohammad Rizwan shines in PCB Awards

    Pakistan wicket-keeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan had an exceptional year with the bat, behind the wicket as well in T20 cricket. The star cricketer bagged two awards in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) annual awards. Rizwan has been given Most Valuable Cricketer Of The Year and T20 Cricketer Of The Year awards.

    There were a total of 10 categories identified with eight player’s categories and two special categories, including Spirit of Cricket and Umpire of the Year.

    Following is the complete list of winners in all categories announced by PCB in a press release issued after the online award ceremony:

    Impactful performance of the Year: Shaheen Shah Afridi

    Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Mohammad Wasim Jnr

    ODI Cricketer of the Year: Babar Azam

    Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Nida Dar

    Test Cricketer of the Year: Hassan Ali

    T20I Cricketer of the Year: Mohammad Rizwan

    Spirit of Cricket: Pakistan cricket team’s visit to the Namibia cricket team’s dressing room following their 45 runs victory to congratulate the Namibia side for qualifying for their maiden ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 and then progressing to the Super-12 Stage.

    Umpire of the Year: Asif Yaqoob

    Domestic Cricketer of the Year: Sahibzada Farhan

    Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year: Mohammad Rizwan

    The independent panel that selected the winners included Rashid Latif, Marina Iqbal (former international cricketers), Tariq Saeed (broadcaster), Mazher Arshad (statistician), Majid Bhatti, Mohammad Yaqoob, Mohi Shah, Rizwan Ali, Shahid Hashmi and Sohail Imran (journalists).

    Rizwan won the PCB’s Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year award following a stellar 2021 in which he scored 455 Test, 134 ODI and 1,326 T20I runs, besides accounting for 56 batsmen behind the wickets across all formats.

    For the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year award, Rizwan beat the strong competitors like Babar Azam, Hassan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who also had an impressive and outstanding year, which is reflected through Pakistan’s overall performance in 2021.

    “I feel humbled and honoured to have been adjudged Pakistan’s Most Valuable Cricketer of 2021. This is the PCB’s most prestigious award and to be recognised for my contributions in the team’s superlative performances across all formats in 2021 in such a way gives me tremendous satisfaction and happiness,” Rizwan said.

    “I thought I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game when I was able to hit a century early in the year against South Africa and then carry that confidence and momentum for the rest of the year. I give a lot of credit to our bowlers who bowled their hearts out and didn’t let the pressure get onto the batters by maintaining sustained pressure on opponents throughout the year.”

    Speaking on the ocassion, Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja said: “PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja: “On behalf of the PCB, I want to congratulate each award winner. They deserve all the applause and accolades for their tremendous consistency across all formats in difficult times that inspired their sides to outstanding performances throughout 2021, which have been widely acknowledged by the Pakistan cricket fans.”

  • Kohli ranks below Babar across all three cricket formats in ICC rankings

    Kohli ranks below Babar across all three cricket formats in ICC rankings

    Indian Test captain Virat Kohli has dropped below Pakistan Cricket Team Skipper Babar Azam in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) batting rankings across all three formats of cricket Test, ODI, and T20I.

    Kohli was already below Babar in the ODI and T20I rankings, but after the latest rankings were released, the Indian batter slipped two positions and is now at the ninth spot, with 747 rating points.

    The ex-Indian ODI and T20I captain managed to score 53 runs in the Centurion Test against South Africa — averaging only 26.50.

    Kohli was two places above Babar, who gained a spot, and is now at the eighth spot, with 750 rating points in the Test category.

    The Indian batter, in the ODI rankings, is at second place, a spot below Babar, who is at the top of the list. The Pakistan batter has 873 rating points, while Kohli has 844.

    In the T20I rankings, Babar is sitting at the top spot, with 805 rating points, equalling Dawid Malan, while Kohli is not even in the top 10. The Indian batter is at the 11th spot, with 657 rating points.