Babar Azam joins Imran Khan in elite Pakistan captaincy list

TRINIDAD: Star batter Babar Azam has become only the third Pakistan captain to lead the national side in 150 or more international matches across all formats, joining legendary skipper Imran Khan and former captain Misbah-ul-Haq in an exclusive club.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently reappointed Babar as Pakistan's Test captain, replacing Shan Masood ahead of the upcoming away Test tours of the West Indies and England.

According to the latest captaincy records, Babar has now captained Pakistan in 150 international matches across Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Only Imran Khan (187 matches) and Misbah-ul-Haq (151 matches) have led Pakistan more often.

Babar stands second on Pakistan's all-format captaincy wins list with 84 victories, behind Imran Khan (89) and ahead of Misbah-ul-Haq (77) in third, while boasting an overall record of 84 wins, 51 defeats, two ties, four draws and eight no-results from 150 international matches, giving him a 56 per cent win rate.

Former captain and pace legend Wasim Akram follows Babar on the list, having led Pakistan in 134 internationals, while Inzamam-ul-Haq (119) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (100) complete the top six.

The 31-year-old returns to the Test captaincy with an encouraging record in the longest format. During his first stint between 2020 and 2023, he captained Pakistan in 22 Tests, winning 10, losing seven and drawing four, giving him a 45.45 per cent win rate.

His predecessor, Shan Masood, was appointed Test captain ahead of Pakistan's tour of Australia in late 2023. Pakistan lost all three Tests in Australia before Masood finished his tenure with four victories and 12 defeats in 16 Tests, resulting in a win percentage of 25 per cent.

Babar's leadership journey began in October 2019, when he was named Pakistan's T20I captain. He was subsequently appointed ODI captain in May 2020, before taking charge of the Test side later that year.

His first spell as Pakistan's all-format captain ended in November 2023, when he stepped down following the team's disappointing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup campaign in India.

The PCB reinstated him as white-ball captain in March 2024, but Babar resigned again in October 2024, citing the need to manage his workload and focus on his batting.

Across his two white-ball captaincy stints, Babar led Pakistan in 43 ODIs, registering 26 wins, while also becoming the country's most-capped T20I captain after leading the side in 85 matches, winning 48.