Babar Azam

A right-hand top-order batter known as much for his elegant cover drive as his ability to single-handedly carry the batting, Babar Azam was, for much of the late 2010s and early 2020s, the face of Pakistan cricket. He made his case for a permanent spot in Pakistan's white-ball sides with a hat-trick of ODI hundreds against West Indies in 2016. He was 21, fresh off a strong showing in age-group cricket and a recent international debut in a home series against Zimbabwe that kicked off with a fifty. A Test call-up followed soon after, and by the time Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq bowed out, Babar had begun staking his claim as Pakistan's next great batter.

Born in Lahore and a cousin to the Akmal brothers, Babar came through Pakistan's junior ranks the long way: Under-15s in 2008, U-19 World Cups in 2010 and 2012 - Pakistan's top scorer both times - and a steady climb through domestic cricket, emerging in international cricket at a time when Pakistan were starved of batting consistency.

When he reached the milestones in 2018, he was the joint second-fastest to 2000 ODI runs, the fastest to 1000 in T20Is, and became one of Pakistan's leading century makers. His hundred against New Zealand in a must-win game at the 2019 World Cup stands among Pakistan's finest in the format. In Test cricket, he took a little longer to find his feet, but between the start of 2018 and the end of 2022, Babar hit a purple streak that no other Pakistan batter came close to approaching. He racked up almost 9000 runs across formats over those five years, more than any other batter. He peaked in 2022, ranking among the top three batters in the world in Tests and ODIs, and racking up 1184 Test runs over the course of the year, including four hundreds, one of which was a ten-hour 196 in a thrilling draw against Australia at home, and rank

By the end of 2020, he was predictably captain across formats. But all of it ground to a halt after Pakistan's disappointing run at the 2023 World Cup and a rocky period in red-ball cricket brought scrutiny. His form tailed off across formats - he scored a solitary Test fifty in all of 2023 and 2024 and averaged just 21.36 - and by late 2023, he stepped down from the captaincy amid Pakistan cricket's chaotic leadership churn, despite being the side's most successful all-format captain after Imran Khan. By mid-2025, he was still a senior presence, but no longer the automatic pick he had once been.