Nick Knight Praises Babar Azam on Winning Series

Nick Knight, a former English cricketer-turned-broadcaster praises Babar Azam on his achievements and states that he must win the World Cup to prove his legacy as the greatest. He stated that his previous accomplishments are meaningless unless he wins the world cup.

The right-handed batter played his 100th ODI match last night at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi when the Green Shirts faced New Zealand in the fifth and final ODI of a 5-match series.

The series was won by the Green Shirts after they defeated the opposition by 26 runs in the third ODI on May 3 and continued their winning ways in the next match by defeating the New Zealanders by a massive margin of 102 runs. In the fifth ODI, they pursued a target of 300 but fell short of wickets.

Before he was dismissed by Henry Shipley off Cole McConchie, Babar scored the only run off five deliveries. He scored 276 runs in total, including two fifties and a century. Only twice since the end of 2021 has the 28-year-old scored less than 49.

This was also the first victory against the New Zealanders in any series since 2021. Babar propelled the national team to the summit of the ICC Men’s ODI Teams rankings for the very first time. He led the Green Shirt to the semifinals of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup by winning every group stage match. In the quarterfinals, they encountered Australia, who triumphed by five wickets.

Under his leadership, the Green Shirts defeated India for the first time since 2013 against their archrivals. Under his leadership, Pakistan reached the final of the 2022 Asia Cup, where they won two of their three group-stage matches.

It is important to note that he has the highest batting average in ODI history at 59.85. He is also the world’s quickest batter to attain 5,000 runs, surpassing Hashim Amla of the Proteas (101 innings) by 97 innings.

He is the only batsman in ODI history to have scored three consecutive centuries on two separate occasions. In addition, he was named ‘ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year’ in 2021 and 2022.

Babar addressed his captaincy allegations during the press conference following the fifth ODI. He stated that he is apprehensive as to whether he will have the opportunity to command the national team in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup. However, he added that his focus is on the team’s and his own performance, not the allegations.