Babar Azam bags yet another ICC award of the year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam as the ODI Cricketer of the Year for his stellar performance during the calendar year 2021.

Alongside Babar, ICC also nominated Bangladesh’s all-rounder Shakib Al Hassan, South Africa’s batter Janneman Malan and Ireland’s Paul Sterling.

Babar has achieved this milestone for the third consecutive time. Earlier he was awarded ODI Captain of the Year and T20I Team of the Year.

In his acceptance speech, the captain thanked his supporters, family, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the International Cricket Council (ICC), and his squad for their support and encouragement.

Babar Azam believes his best innings of the year, as well as his career-best, came against England at Edgbaston.

“I was actually struggling there, but that knock gave me a lot of confidence,” he said.

On the South Africa tour, Babar praised the performances of Fakahar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq — and did not leave himself out.

“My aim is 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.

Skipper’s review of the year 2021

Babar only played six ODIs in 2021, but he contributed splendidly in the two series that Pakistan played.

He was awarded the player of the series award for most runs (228) during the South Africa tour where they won the series by 2-1. Babar made a century and built the foundation with an 82-ball 94 in the last ODI, where the visitors produced 320 batting first, architecting Pakistan’s chase of 274 in the first ODI.

He was the only player during the England tour, where the hosts wiped the national team 3-0, scoring 177 runs.

Putting up the best performance of the year

Babar’s best performance of the year was in the last ODI against England.

Having won the toss, the Pakistani skipper decided to bat and posted 331 runs on the board with Babar scoring almost half of the total.

Babar came in to bat early in the innings and put on a 92-run stand with Imam-ul-Haq to save Pakistan. Initially, he was conservative in his approach, reaching his half-century in 72 balls. He made amends by scoring the following fifty runs in just 32 balls, his second ODI century of the season.

He burst in the final overs and almost batted his way through the innings, being dismissed for 158 in the last over, his highest-ever ODI score.

Unfortunately for Pakistan, England brought down the score with two overs to spare thanks to a brilliant 129-run sixth-wicket stand between James Vince and Lewis Gregory.

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