Babar Azam says “Our performances in white ball cricket upstaged our achievements in red ball cricket”

• Babar Azam reviews the men’s cricket team’s achievements in 2022.
• Pakistan played 44 international matches including 9 Tests, 9 ODIs and 26 T20Is.
• They reached finals of T20 Asia Cup and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Babar Azam, the captain of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, remarked that the team’s white-ball performances eclipsed its red-ball accomplishments in 2022. Nine Tests, nine ODIs, and 26 T20Is were among the 44 international games contested by the men’s team.

Under Azam, Pakistan advanced to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final in Australia and the T20 Asia Cup final in the United Arab Emirates. They also hosted New Zealand (at the time), Australia, the West Indies, and England in 2022, although they failed to win any home Test matches.

“Our performances in white-ball cricket upstaged our achievements in red-ball cricket. We reached the finals in the UAE and Australia, and though we didn’t perform the way we had expected in red-ball cricket, three sides ranked above Pakistan played in Pakistan that provided us a huge learning opportunity and also entertained our fans,” said Azam in a special edition of the PCB Podcast.

Azam excelled at the plate in 2022, participating in all 44 international games and finishing with 2,598 runs across all formats to lead all batters. He stated that his victories over India in the Super Four match at the Asia Cup T20 and over Sri Lanka in the Galle Test were his best performances of the year.

“In T20 cricket, my favourite match was the win against India in the repeat fixture of the Asia Cup as it was a crucial game for us in terms of a place in the final. In Test cricket, victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle was outstanding as we chased down 342 for the loss of six wickets on a difficult track. Abdullah Shafique was magnificent in the second innings when he scored 160 not out.”

Azam has been nominated for the 2022 ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award as well as the ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Year honours. The second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand will now commence in Karachi on Monday, 2023.

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