Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, has been named the ICC’s ODI Player of the Year once more. He previously won the honour for the year 2022 with his outstanding performance in the calendar year 2021.
A day after being chosen the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year for 2022, the batting master accomplished the feat.
“There were match-winning knocks, spell-binding stroke-play and memorable moments from a personal perspective and his team in 2022 as Pakistan skipper Babar Azam claimed ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year Award for a second consecutive year,” a statement released by the international cricket governing body said.
The ICC reminisced some of Babar’s memorable performances and outstanding achievements in the year.
As the “ultra-consistent right-hander retained his lead” as the top ranked batter on the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings, Babar had an even better year in ODI cricket in 2022 than he had in 2021.
Since July 2021, Babar has clung tenaciously to the title and, based on recent performances, has no plans to relinquish it easy.
It may come as a surprise to learn that the talented batter only participated in nine ODI games in 2022, but she made the most of them by blasting three hundreds, another five half-centuries, and only really struggling with the bat once.
“It wasn’t just from an individual level that Babar thrived, with the Pakistan captain also leading his team with aplomb and to just one loss throughout the year.”
Despite the 28-year-back-to-back old’s excellent ODI performances in 2022, none were as impressive or memorable as the stunning 114 against Australia in Lahore in March.
After losing the first game of the series against an always-tough Australian team, Pakistan needed to win this game more than anything. Babar came through when Pakistan needed him the most, helping his team chase down a huge total of 349 with just four wickets lost and six deliveries remaining.
Before Babar put on a clinic in comprehensive run-chase, openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq lay the groundwork with a 118-run stand to get the run chase underway.
Babar came to bat with his team needing 231 from 187 balls and nearly won the game for his side with an outstanding exhibition of shot-making.
He reached his century in just 73 balls, which is the fastest he has ever done in an ODI, and he continued to bat till the 45th over with the winning total in sight.
As Pakistan made their highest-ever successful chase in ODIs, the remaining batters completed the task, thus it was no surprise that their inspiring captain was rightfully voted Player of the Match.
