Beating India favourite 2022 moment for Babar

LAHORE: For Pakistan all format captain Babar Azam the win against India during the Asia Cup repeat match was his favourite moment of 2022. Bismah Maroof, Pakistan women's captain, cherished her team’s victory against the West Indies.

The year 2022 was an incredibly busy year for the national men’s and women’s cricketers in the international arena. The men’s side played a total of 44 international matches (nine Tests, nine ODIs and 26 T20Is) and reached the finals of the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup besides hosting Australia, West Indies, England and New Zealand. The women’s side featured in 32 internationals (13 ODIs and 19 T20Is) and participated in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, besides hosting Sri Lanka and Ireland.

Babar Azam, who appeared in all 44 internationals and finished as the most successful batter in the world with 2,598 runs, reflecting on the year said: “Our performances in white-ball cricket upstaged our achievements in red-ball cricket.

“We reached the finals in the UAE and Australia, and though we didn’t perform the way we had expected in red-ball cricket, three sides ranked above Pakistan played in Pakistan that provided us a huge learning opportunity,” ” said Azam in a special edition of the PCB Podcast.

“In T20 cricket, my favourite match was the win against India in the repeat fixture of the Asia Cup as it was a crucial game for us in terms of a place in the final. In Test cricket, victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle was outstanding as we chased down 342 for the loss of six wickets on a difficult track. Abdullah Shafique was magnificent in the second innings when he scored 160 not out.”

Azam has also earned nominations for ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Year and ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year awards for 2022. Bismah stated: “The highlight of our World Cup campaign was the victory over the West Indies, which was our first in 13 years in the pinnacle event. We also won five of the six ODIs against Sri Lanka and Ireland at home to move up to second in the ICC Women’s Championship, while we defeated India in Sylhet for the first time since 2014 though we missed out on the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup final after losing to Sri Lanka by one-run in the semi-final.”

The women’s team performance was also reflected in the ICC Player of the Month awards when Tuba Hassan (May), Nida Dar (October) and Sidra Amin (November) won international recognitions.