Babar Azam crowned ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been declared ODI Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday.

This is the third mention of Babar Azam in the ICC Awards 2021. He was earlier announced the captain of the T20 and ODI teams of the year by the ICC.

The year 2021 has been one of the memorable ones for the national team as several Pakistani cricketers were nominated for the international awards due to their stellar performances.

Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, Janneman Malan of South Africa and Paul Stirling of Ireland were also nominated for the ODI Cricketer of the Year award.

The Pakistani captain only played six ODI in the previous year but he made vital contributions in the two series that Pakistan played this year. He scored 405 runs in six matches at an average of 67.50 with two centuries.

He was the second-highest run-scorer with 228 runs and was the Player of the Match in both of Pakistan's wins in the 2-1 series victory against South Africa. The architect of Pakistan's chase of 274 in the first ODI, Babar made a century and laid the foundation with an 82-ball 94 in the final ODI where the visitors posted 320 batting first.

He was the lone warrior for Pakistan when they were swept by England 3-0. He accumulated 177 runs in three games but found no support none of the other batters managed to score more than 100 in the series.

The star batter’s best performance in 2021 came in a losing cause in the final ODI against England.

With the series already lost, Pakistan were playing for pride as well as crucial ICC Cricket World Cup Super League points in the third ODI at Birmingham. Put in to bat first, Pakistan posted 331, with Babar scoring close to half of the team's runs.

Walking in to bat early in the innings, Babar strung a 92-run stand with Imam-ul-Haq to bail Pakistan out of trouble. He was cautious in his approach initially, bringing up his half-century in 72 balls. He made up for it by bringing up the next fifty runs in just 32 balls – it was his second ODI century of the year.

With the milestone out of the way, he exploded in the death overs and almost batted through the innings, getting out in the last over for 158, his highest-ever ODI score.

Unfortunately for Pakistan, James Vince and Lewis Gregory stole the show with a stunning 129-run stand for the sixth wicket as England chased the total down with two overs to spare.