Babar Azam wins the ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year Award for the 2nd consecutive year

[MenInG]

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 the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year Award for a second consecutive year.



Here, we take a look at his performances and celebrate some of his outstanding achievements in the year.

Babar Azam – Pakistan

679 runs from nine matches at an average of 84.87 with three centuries.


The year gone by

If you thought the Pakistan skipper had a year to remember in ODI cricket in 2021, then what he produced during 2022 was even better as the ultra-consistent right-hander maintained his lead as the No.1 ranked batter on the MRF Tyres ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings.

It's a title that Babar has held firmly onto since July 2021 and on current form, has no intention of letting go easily.

It might be surprising to note that Babar only played nine ODI matches in 2022, but the 28-year-old made them count as he smashed three centuries, a further five half-centuries and only really failed with the bat on one occasion.

And 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.

Pakistan's sole loss in 50-over cricket last year came against Australia in Lahore and on stats alone, it was evident that Babar was an easy selection to win the coveted ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year award in 2022.

Memorable performance

Babar Azam put up one incredible ODI performance after another in 2022, but none more memorable or as good as the outstanding 114 against Australia in Lahore at the end of March.

It was a must-win encounter for Pakistan after they fell to a loss in the series opener against an always-difficult Australian side and Babar delivered when his country needed him most as the Asian side chased down a massive total of 349 for the loss of just four wickets and with six deliveries to spare.

Openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq laid the foundation with a 118-run stand to get the run chase going before Babar put on a masterclass in chasing a total.

Walking out to bat when his team needed 231 from 187 balls, Babar almost took his side home with an exceptional display of shot-making.

He brought up his hundred from just 73 balls - his fastest ever in ODI cricket - and stuck around until the 45th over with the victory target in sight.

The rest of the batters finished the job as Pakistan recorded their highest-ever successful chase in ODIs and it was no surprise that their inspirational skipper was deservedly named Player of the Match.

ICC

[Major]

Wow, just shows a gem we have got.

It sucks that we dont play that many odi games now adays

[Mean&Green]

humiliation for some fans

[WhenSultansBowled]

I hope he manages to play at least 200 ODI games and score 10000+ runs and 35+ hundreds.

After 93 ODI innings: he has scored 4813 runs and 17 hundreds. Averaging 59.41 and SR of 89.03. He is on the way!


Historically speaking, his prime is yet to come. Usually Pakistani batters enter into beast mode in later years of their careers.

Babar Azam is such a great player and an absolute treat to watch!

[pak.cricket]

Selfish player. Thinks of himself as some superstart who has already achieved everything but in reality he goes missing when the team needs him. He likes to play for his own records and isn't good enough yo win matches in pressure situation or against any decent bowling line up. He is a fake superstar in making similar to ahmed shehzad.

[Major]

Selfish player. Thinks of himself as some superstart who has already achieved everything but in reality he goes missing when the team needs him. He likes to play for his own records and isn't good enough yo win matches in pressure situation or against any decent bowling line up. He is a fake superstar in making similar to ahmed shehzad.

how does one think of themselve as a superstar? Like how did you enter his brain and deduce that he thinks like that?

[Major]

Humiliation for some fans

We dont deserve good batsman. The current generation of fans and the fans from the 2000s are so used to watching bad batters that they have no idea the gem of a batsman we have got.

But than again, Babar is be blamed aswell as he makes his own batting look effortless. This nation would had insulted Sangakar had he played for Pakistan as he was another batsman whose batting looked effortless and scoring a 45 runs was a joke for him.

Pakistani fans like 4s and 6s and in a country where the likes of Afridi and Razzaq are made heroes, peoplpe like babar azam, misbah or rizwan would never be appreciated

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Selfish player. Thinks of himself as some superstart who has already achieved everything but in reality he goes missing when the team needs him. He likes to play for his own records and isn't good enough yo win matches in pressure situation or against any decent bowling line up. He is a fake superstar in making similar to ahmed shehzad.

Some fans also call Sachin and Lara selfish. They completely forget that during their peak years, both Sachin and Lara had so many duds in their team. I can see the same happening with Babar.

Note: I am not comparing Babar as a batsman with Sachin and Lara. I am comparing the situation he is in currently.

[MenInG]

Imagine our ODI team without Babar!? We talk about lack of superstars but we have one!

[Mamoon]

Poor decision. Shreyas Iyer deserved it.

[TheSultan]

Some fans also call Sachin and Lara selfish. They completely forget that during their peak years, both Sachin and Lara had so many duds in their team. I can see the same happening with Babar.

Note: I am not comparing Babar as a batsman with Sachin and Lara. I am comparing the situation he is in currently.

The difference is Lara and even little Sachin displayed a level of dominance that Babar hasn’t. Not to mention they had some monstrous innings / series too. Lara especially used to demoralise bowlers and hurt the opposition.

Babar just seems a bit too soft and even when he scores big, he doesn’t hurt the opposition.

[Mean&Green]

Poor decision. Shreyas Iyer deserved it.

Lmao who?

[Sidilicious]

The difference is Lara and even little Sachin displayed a level of dominance that Babar hasn’t. Not to mention they had some monstrous innings / series too. Lara especially used to demoralise bowlers and hurt the opposition.

Babar just seems a bit too soft and even when he scores big, he doesn’t hurt the opposition.

But the competition was not Lara and Sachin this year. The competition was Shai Hope.

No one is claiming Babar is on Kohli or Sachin or Lara level.

Yes, the competition was poor this year, but that’s not Barbars fault

[MenInG]

Babar Azam joins MS Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli to win the ICC men's ODI Player of the Year award multiple times

[jnaveen1980]

But the competition was not Lara and Sachin this year. The competition was Shai Hope.

No one is claiming Babar is on Kohli or Sachin or Lara level.

Yes, the competition was poor this year, but that’s not Barbars fault

Lot of teams were in experimental mode in 2022. India had six no.3 batsmen tried out last year. seven openers tried out. Babar was the sole no.3 batsman last year for Pakistan. Shreyas Iyer alone batted at 3 different batting position last year. ICC award is based on data. Although Iyer had scored more probably Babar got due to his 100s?

[shamaan]

Lmao who?

He deserves it becouse hes Indian player.

[shamaan]

Lot of teams were in experimental mode in 2022. India had six no.3 batsmen tried out last year. seven openers tried out. Babar was the sole no.3 batsman last year for Pakistan. Shreyas Iyer alone batted at 3 different batting position last year. ICC award is based on data. Although Iyer had scored more probably Babar got due to his 100s?

Iyer scored more becouse he played more odis babar has a way better average and similar strike rate to Iyer last year.

[Mamoon]

Lmao who?

The fourth or fifth best batsman in India who is on par with Pakistan’s best batsman.

[jnaveen1980]

Iyer scored more becouse he played more odis babar has a way better average and similar strike rate to Iyer last year.

That is why i talked about batting order. 6 innings more. Shreyas Iyer didn't get a lot of deliveries to face. All in all Iyer faced 791 deliveries. Babar 748. Not a whole lot of difference. Gill is another contender. 638 runs at 70.88 average and strike rate 102.57.

[jnaveen1980]

The fourth or fifth best batsman in India who is on par with Pakistan’s best batsman.

If you exclude associate encounters Imam ul haq has better stats than Babar for 2022. Babar's netherlands bullying put him over Imam

[shamaan]

That is why i talked about batting order. 6 innings more. Shreyas Iyer didn't get a lot of deliveries to face. All in all Iyer faced 791 deliveries. Babar 748. Not a whole lot of difference. Gill is another contender. 638 runs at 70.88 average and strike rate 102.57.

I would say Gill is more of a contender than Iyer.

[Ab Fan]

I would say Gill is more of a contender than Iyer.

In 2022, Gill scored against Zimbabwe and Windies but failed at home vs South Africa.

Iyer didn't played vs Zimbabwe and scored vs West Indies and also at home vs South Africa. Both scored in NZ too. So, Iyer performed better than Gill in ODIs in 2022.

But now after SL and NZ home series, Gill has taken huge strides. Ofcourse talent wise, Gill is in a different universe to Iyer.

[jnaveen1980]

In 2022, Gill scored against Zimbabwe and Windies but failed at home vs South Africa.

Iyer didn't played vs Zimbabwe and scored vs West Indies and also at home vs South Africa. Both scored in NZ too. So, Iyer performed better than Gill in ODIs in 2022.

But now after SL and NZ home series, Gill has taken huge strides. Ofcourse talent wise, Gill is in a different universe to Iyer.

India did some extreme experimentation last year. some 9 captains, 34 players.

[Sidilicious]

Lot of teams were in experimental mode in 2022. India had six no.3 batsmen tried out last year. seven openers tried out. Babar was the sole no.3 batsman last year for Pakistan. Shreyas Iyer alone batted at 3 different batting position last year. ICC award is based on data. Although Iyer had scored more probably Babar got due to his 100s?

Exactly, there were no standout performers. So ICC had no choice to give it Babar.

[Major]

If you exclude associate encounters Imam ul haq has better stats than Babar for 2022. Babar's netherlands bullying put him over Imam

What?

Babar Azam defeated Australia, he score 3 centuries consecutive. 2 against Australia back to back along with a 50 and one against West Indies.

Babar peformed all year in odi cricketer

[jnaveen1980]

What?

Babar Azam defeated Australia, he score 3 centuries consecutive. 2 against Australia back to back along with a 50 and one against West Indies.

Babar peformed all year in odi cricketer

Excluding Netherland outings

Babar in 2022

57, 114, 105* 103, 77 , 1

Imam ul haq in 2022

103, 106, 89*, 65, 72, 62

Imam's only failure was against netherlands. If you exclude that Imam > Babar in 2022 in every which way. Runs, Average, Strike rate, sixes. SHouldn't he have got the ICC ODI cricketer of the year award?

[Major]

Excluding Netherland outings

Babar in 2022

57, 114, 105* 103, 77 , 1

Imam ul haq in 2022

103, 106, 89*, 65, 72, 62

Imam's only failure was against netherlands. If you exclude that Imam > Babar in 2022 in every which way. Runs, Average, Strike rate, sixes. SHouldn't he have got the ICC ODI cricketer of the year award?

it doesnt work that way. This thing of excluding certain teams only takes place on forums and discussions.

ICC recognizes all teams and offcourse they will take into account the performance of the whole year against all teams. Just because Imam peformed against Australia, does it justify his por performance agianst weaker teams?

Its not like Babar did bad against the top teams, babar was what 50 runs short. But Imam coudnt otuscore that agiainst the rest .

be logical atleasts

[Mean&Green]

The fourth or fifth best batsman in India who is on par with Pakistan’s best batsman.

Never heard of the guy has anyone else