Babar Azam wins Sir Garfield Sobers award for ICC Men's cricketer of the year
Babar, Pakistan's inspirational captain, continued to raise the bar for himself in 2022, breaking more personal records while making sure Pakistan's star shone brightly.
2022 was a memorable year for the recipient of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year - Babar Azam.
Babar, Pakistan's inspirational captain, continued to raise the bar for himself in 2022, breaking more personal records while making sure Pakistan's star shone brightly.
Babar broke past that milestone while accumulating a whopping 2598 runs at an intimidating average of 54.12. He was the only player to surpass the 2000-run mark during the calendar year across all formats.
It's clear that the dynamic right-hander is at the top of his game right now. Babar's haul of eight hundreds and 17 fifties during the calendar year was his best of his career to date.
The 50-over format was ruled by the 2021 ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year, who amassed 679 runs in nine games. His consistency is demonstrated by the fact that he recorded scores of 50 or more in eight of those innings. It came as no surprise that the 28-year-old was named the ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year for a second consecutive year given that he continues to occupy the top rank in the ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings.
Babar also had a fantastic year in Test cricket, despite the fact that his team's results weren't always favorable. In the lengthier format, he carried out the majority of the hard lifting for Pakistan, scoring 1184 runs in just nine games.
Babar's year as captain in the white-ball formats was especially noteworthy because Pakistan won all three ODI series they participated in, dropping just one game out of nine to Australia.
He guided Pakistan to their first Men's T20 World Cup final since 2009 in the T20I format, when Babar's team had placed second to eventual winners England.
