Babar Azam won his first man of the match award in an ODI against West Indies at Sharjah. When he scored his first century in One Day internationals after that, he never looked back.
Although Babar ranked in 13th position for most player of the match awards for Pakistan, he needs only four more awards to surpass the greatest captain Imran Khan and three for Javed Miandad.
Let’s deep dive into Babar Azam’s most impactful inning for Pakistan in the winning cause.
Babar Azam Man of the Match Awards in All Formats
Babar Azam has won 20 Player of the match in 241 international matches. Since he began his career in 2015, he has received more MOTM than any other player in Pakistan.
He has scored several centuries and fifties that helped his team in match victory. But as everyone knows, the player with the most impactful inning gets the award, either bowler or batter.
| #SR | Runs | Format | Opposition | Ground | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 120 | ODI | West Indies | Sharjah | 2016 |
| 2 | 123 | ODI | West Indies | Sharjah | 2016 |
| 3 | 117 | ODI | West Indies | Abdu Dhabi | 2016 |
| 4 | 125 | ODI | West Indies | Providence | 2017 |
| 5 | 86 | T20I | World XI | Lahore | 2017 |
| 6 | 69 | ODI | Sri Lanka | Sharjah | 2017 |
| 7 | 97 | T20I | West Indies | Karachi | 2018 |
| 8 | 106 | ODI | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | 2018 |
| 9 | 79 | T20I | New Zealand | Dubai | 2018 |
| 10 | 101 | ODI | New Zealand | Birmingham | 2019 |
| 11 | 66 | T20 | Bangladesh | Lahore | 2020 |
| 12 | 82 | T20 | Zimbabwe | Rawalpindi | 2020 |
| 13 | 103 | ODI | South Africa | Centurion | 2021 |
| 14 | 94 | ODI | South Africa | Centurion | 2021 |
| 15 | 122 | T20I | South Africa | Centurion | 2021 |
| 16 | 232 | Test | Australia | Karachi | 2022 |
| 17 | 114 | ODI | Australia | Lahore | 2022 |
| 18 | 105 | ODI | Australia | Lahore | 2022 |
| 19 | 110 | T20I | England | Karachi | 2022 |
| 20 | 79 | T20I | New Zealand | Christchurch | 2022 |
Babar Azam Man of the Match Awards in Test
Babar has played 47 test games and succeeded in winning only one man of the match award. In March 2022, when Australia visited Pakistan, Babar Azam won his only MOTM award.
It was a match-saving inning by him, as Australia set a big total of 556 runs, and Pakistan Lost all of their wickets at 147 in the first inning. Keep in mind this was the match where Babar took his maiden and only wicket in International Cricket.
The Australian skipper ended their batting inning at 97/2 and tried to win the game. Pakistan loses 2 wickets very early while chasing 506 runs. After that partnership between Abdullah Shafiq and Babar and between Rizwan and Babar helped Pakistan to draw the match.
| # | Runs | Balls | SR | Minutes | 4’s | 6’s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Inning | 36 | 79 | 46 | 154 | 3 | 0 |
| 2nd Inning | 196 | 425 | 46 | 603 | 21 | 1 |
It is difficult for a player to win MOTM awards in Test Cricket. In this longer format, a batter has to show his capabilities in both innings. The batter is out of the race if a mishap happens in any innings. Because Bowlers have more control in this format because management tries to make pitches that suit bowlers.
Babar Azam Man of the Match Awards in ODI
Babar Azam has excellent records in ODI, as he gets the number one position in ICC ODI Rankings by beating Virat Kohli. He has scored most of his centuries in this format and loved scoring in One day games.
Babar has won 11 Man of the match awards in ODI’s. He won his first Man of the match in the ODI against West Indies, and his last award was against Australia in 2022. Most of the awards are wins against West Indies. Below is the complete list of his all-player of the match awards list in ODI.
| # | Runs | Balls | SR | Opposition | Match Result | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 120 | 131 | 92 | West Indies | Pak Won by 11 Runs | Sharjah | 2016 |
| 02 | 123 | 126 | 98 | West Indies | Pak Won by 59 Runs | Sharjah | 2016 |
| 03 | 117 | 106 | 110 | West Indies | Pak Won by 136 Runs | Abu Dhabi | 2016 |
| 04 | 125 | 132 | 95 | West Indies | Pak Won by 74 Runs | Providence | 2017 |
| 05 | 69 | 101 | 68 | Sri Lanka | Pak Won by 7 Wickets | Sharjah | 2017 |
| 06 | 106 | 76 | 139 | Zimbabwe | Pak Won by 131 Runs | Bulawayo | 2018 |
| 07 | 101 | 127 | 80 | New Zealand | Pak Won by 6 Wickets | Birmingham | 2019 |
| 08 | 103 | 104 | 99 | South Africa | Pak Won by 3 Wickets | Centurion | 2021 |
| 09 | 94 | 82 | 115 | South Africa | Pak Won by 28 Runs | Centurion | 2021 |
| 10 | 114 | 83 | 137 | Australia | Pak Won by 6 Wickets | Lahore | 2022 |
| 11 | 105 | 115 | 91 | Australia | Pak Won by 9 Wickets | Lahore | 2022 |
Babar Azam Man of the Match Awards in T20I
Babar Azam has won 8 Man of the matches awards in T20I in 99 matches. Seven awards were won in International matches, while one was won in a friendly match against World Xi in 2017. Below is the list of all matches
| # | Runs | Balls | SR | Opposition | Match Results | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 86 | 52 | 165 | World XI | Pak Won by 20 Runs | Lahore | 2017 |
| 02 | 97 | 58 | 167 | West Indies | Pak Won by 82 Runs | Karachi | 2018 |
| 03 | 89 | 58 | 136 | New Zealand | Pak Won by 47 Runs | Dubai | 2018 |
| 04 | 66 | 44 | 150 | Bangladesh | Pak Won by 9 Wickets | Lahore | 2020 |
| 05 | 82 | 55 | 149 | Zimbabwe | Pak Won by 6 Wickets | Rawalpindi | 2020 |
| 06 | 122 | 59 | 207 | South Africa | Pak Won by 9 Wickets | Centurion | 2021 |
| 07 | 110 | 66 | 167 | England | Pak Won by 10 Wickets | Karachi | 2022 |
| 08 | 79 | 53 | 149 | New Zealand | Pak Won by 6 Wickets | Christchurch | 2022 |
Babar Azam Man of the Match Awards By Opposition Team
Babar Azam has won most Man of the matches against West Indies. He outclassed the black storm in five matches and got a victory for his team. He won three times against Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, two against Zimbabwe, and one against Sri Lanka and England. Babar Azam never won player of the match against India and Afghanistan.
| Opposition Team | Total | Test | ODI | T20I |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Indies | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| South Africa | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| India | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Afghanistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Cricbuzz
