The Pakistan cricket team registered a miraculous win in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on 4th November. They played their eighth match of the event against the Kiwis at Bengaluru. New Zealand posted 401 runs on the board and still Pakistan managed to win. With Fakhar Zaman’s heroics, Babar Azam’s calmness, and with a little bit of assistance from rain, Pakistan registered their fourth win of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
This win kept Pakistan alive in the semi-final race of the event. Meanwhile, this win was also quite historic for Babar Azam. He scored a half-century in this game and finally batted with good intent which will boost his confidence ahead of the final league match of Pakistan against England, but the record that we are highlighting here is for the most wins as Pakistan captain in international cricket.
This win over New Zealand at Bengaluru was Babar Azam’s 78th win as captain. He became joint second in terms of Pakistan captain with the most number of international wins. The legendary Wasim Akram also had 78 wins as captain of Pakistan in the international arena. Both Wasim and Babar lag behind the great World-Cup winning captain of Pakistan, Imran Khan, who had 89 international wins under his belt.
Babar Azam took charge of the national team in 2019. He has captained Pakistan in 133 matches, winning 78 of those and losing 43. Wasim Akram captained Pakistan in 134 games, winning 78 of those and losing 49. Meanwhile, at the top, the great Imran Khan led Pakistan in 187 games, winning 89 of those and losing 67 matches. Imran Khan had a win percentage of 57, while Wasim Akram (58.20) and Babar Azam (58.64) have a slightly better win percentage as captain in the international arena.
There are still many questions on Babar Azam’s decision-making on the field or during the game, but still, numbers can't be ignored.
If Pakistan makes it to the next round of World Cup 2023, then there is a high probability of Babar Azam retaining the captaincy role and maybe, at some point, he can even overtake Imran Khan in this list.
Bazif Jabbar Passionate Cricket writer and Commentator. Sharing the magic of the game through words.- Babar Azam