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Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been named International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI Cricketer of the Year on January 24 following a prolific run in 2021 with the bat. The 27-year-old scored 405 runs at an average of 67.50 in just six games. He managed to score two centuries as well and played match winning-knocks during Pakistan's tour of South Africa, where the men in green won the three-match ODI series 2-1.
The right-handed batter was the second-highest run-scorer with 228 runs and was the player of the match in both of Pakistan's wins against South Africa. Azam scored 103 off 104 balls in the first ODI and scored a 82-ball 94 in the series decider.
Babar thanked his teammates, fans and family for supporting him. He also credited PCB for their support.
“First of all, I am thankful to the fans for supporting me and cheering me on. After that, I am thankful to PCB and ICC and especially my Pakistan team for supporting and backing me. It wasn’t possible without them, I feel proud to have such a good team. I am also thankful to my parents who prayed a lot for my success,” Babar said in a video posted by the ICC.
Babar picked his 158-run knock against England as his best in the year as well in his career so far. Even though that knock came in a losing cause, he felt that knock gave me him a lot of confidence when he was struggling with form.
“The best innings if you ask me is that 158 I scored against England which is also my highest score. I reckon it’s the best innings of my career. I was actually struggling at that time and needed a knock, I got it and it gave me a lot of confidence,” he added.
Babar was Pakistan’s only batter to be among runs when they were hammered by England 3-0. He scored 177 runs in three games as none of the other batters managed to score more than 100 in the series.
In 83 ODIs, Azam averages a staggering 56.92 with the bat and has scored 3985 runs. He also has 14 centuries and 17 half-centuries to his name.
Babar led Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 and became the first Pakistan skipper to beat India in a World cup fixture. Pakistan also enjoyed an unbeaten run during the league stage of the tournament and were later defeated by the champions Australia in semi-finals.
