Babar Azam, the all-format skipper of Pakistan, became the first captain to take his country to the top of the ICC Men's ODI Rankings on Friday. His journey is nothing short of inspirational.
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Babar Azam, who made his ODI debut for Pakistan against Zimbabwe, worked hard to establish himself as one of Pakistan's most well-known athletes.
When South Africa visited Pakistan in 2007 for a five-match ODI series, he worked as a ball boy and a net bowler, where he faced famous cricketers like Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Babar quickly established himself as Pakistan's top hitter after making his ODI debut and has dominated the white-ball forms ever since, particularly ODIs.
In April 2021, Virat Kohli was deposed as the top-ranked ODI hitter by Babar Azam thanks to his astonishingly steady performance in ODIs. He also won the ODI Player of the Year award for the last two years.
Babar broke two more ODI records on Friday (May 5), including the quickest to 5000 runs and to 18 hundred, as Pakistan dominated New Zealand by 102 runs to move to the top of the ODI rankings for the first time.
Following the national team's outstanding performance, a tweet from Babar Azam from nine years ago has been doing the rounds on social media in which the current Pakistan captain expressed his thanks for getting chosen for the country's conditional camp.
Thank God i'm selected for pakistan camp. Pakistan conditional summer camp start from 8 may.
— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) May 5, 2014
The tweet was unintentionally posted on May 5, 2014, precisely nine years before Pakistan, under Babar Azam's guidance, reached the top of the ODI rankings.
Congratulations, Pakistan 🎉
— ICC (@ICC) May 5, 2023
They go to the top of the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings 🙌 pic.twitter.com/GUq2CjOEoK
It is important to note that Babar will play his 100th ODI match on Sunday when Pakistan and New Zealand square off in the fifth PAK vs NZ ODI at National Bank Cricket Arena. This will be another accomplishment for Babar.
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