Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, won the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award on Thursday after amassing nearly 2,600 runs across all formats of the game. Babar led Pakistan to two finals in 2018—at the T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup—and earned his second consecutive ODI men’s award, becoming the first player after Virat Kohli in 2017–18 to do so. In eight of the nine games, Babar scored fifty or more, helping Pakistan win all three of their ODI series last year.
Babar, in contrast, hasn’t yet reached the pinnacle of his international cricket career, according to former Australia captain and legendary batsman Ricky Ponting. Ponting claimed that the majority of batters reach their peak in their early 30s; Babar is 28.
“He’s probably not (at his peak). Most batters come into their prime in the start of their early thirties,” Ponting told ICC. “You’re sort of working on your game and improving your game right through to a certain point. And that for most guys is it. You look at where Steve Smith and (David) Warner and those guys have been. Steve Smith is probably playing as well as he’s ever played now, along with guys like Kane Williamson as well in their early thirties,” Ponting further added.
Ponting further insisted that Babar still has room to improve. “I think Babar’s still got a little bit of improvement to come, which is a pretty scary thought with what he’s been able to do, pretty much across all three formats over the last three, four years. I love watching him play. I think there’s some room for improvement, let’s hope we see it,” said the former Australia skipper.
The previous year’s T20 World Cup was difficult for Babar Azam, who managed just 124 runs in seven games at a miserable strike rate of 93.23. Although his captaincy has come under scrutiny following clean sweep losses to England and ODI series losses to New Zealand, the Pakistan captain made a brilliant return to run-scoring in the other two formats after the marquee tournament. Nevertheless, Babar’s batting prowess has so far been the best in the team.