International Cricket Council (ICC) declares Pakistani skipper Babar Azam the ODI Cricketer of the Year. Azam has been praised for his formidable performance throughout the year. As a captain, he bagged the world’s attention for leading the nascent and inexperienced Pakistan Cricket Team to the semifinals of the ICC T20I World Cup 2021.
Several players in the team were playing their first ICC tournament. With a young captain at the helm, the team displayed some magnificent and magical performances that amused cricket fans across the world and shocked the opponents.
This is the third consecutive honor for Babar Azam from ICC. Earlier, he was named the captain of the ICC’s ODI and T20I Team of the Year.
◾ 6 matches
◾ 405 runs
◾ 67.50 average
◾ 2 centuriesBabar Azam is the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 👏 🇵🇰
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 24, 2022
Apna Time Agaya|
Babar Azam named as Captain of ICC T20 & ODI Team of The Year
3 Pakistani in ICC Test team of the Year
2 Pakistani in ICC ODI team of the Year
3 Pakistani in ICC T20 Team of the Year
MashAllah#ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/lMaYRWjGPK— Abdul Ghaffar 🇵🇰 (@GhaffarDawnNews) January 20, 2022
Read more: After T20I, Babar Azam named captain of ICC’s ODI Team of Year
In his acceptance speech, Babar Azam called his knock against England, at Edgbaston, his career-best. “I aim to score runs in every country and at the home of the opponents. It was my goal and that series [against South Africa] was quite helpful for us,” he added.
Earlier, ICC in its statement, noted that Babar Azam played just six ODI matches last year, “but he still managed to score 405 runs at an average of 67.50 with two centuries.”
ICC noted that Babar Azam played crucial innings in tough tours against South Africa and England and win the ‘Man of the Match Awards’.
“He also scored a memorable ton in Birmingham in conditions that assisted the seamers.”
Fans are rejoiced to see young skipper being praised globally for his indomitable performance.
Babar Azam is above Indian batter Virat Kohli in all cricket rankings. Virat Kohli was already below Babar Azam in the ODI and T2OI. He has now slipped two-point below Babar Azam in the latest test rankings as well.
Read more: I seek advice from Sarfaraz Ahmed in tough situations: Babar Azam
Azam is at the top of the ODI batting rankings with 873 points. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is in the second spot with 844 points. In T20I batting rankings, Babar Azam is at the second spot with 805 points while Virat Kohli is at the 11th spot with 657 points.