My Family Struggled Financially, Used To Play With A Single Bat For 2-3 Years, Says Babar Azam

Newly-appointed Pakistan Test captain, Babar Azam difficulties he faced in the early days of cricket due to financial constraints in the family. Azam shares that he bought his first cricket kit from the savings of her mother.

The hardships have now being paid well, as currently, the right-hander averages 45 in Test cricket, and over 50 in ODIs and T20Is each. In the ICC Men’s rankings, he is at the fifth position in Test cricket, third in ODIs, and second in T20Is.

Azam was announced as the Test captain of the team replacing Azhar Ali. Babar was made the limited-overs skipper last year replacing Sarfaraz Ahmed after Pakistan’s exit from the league stage in the World Cup.

His first assignment as an all-format leader would be to take on New Zealand. The men in green have arrived in Christchurch. They will undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine period as per COVID-19 protocol before starting training.  Azam’s side will take on New Zealand for 3 T20Is starting 18th December followed by a 2-match Test series.

I took good care of my bat, and it lasted for 3 years: Babar Azam

In an interview with Dawn News, Babar Azam said that his family struggled financially. Azam’s mother gave him her saving money to buy a cricket kit. Azam bought his first bat for about 2500 rupees from the 4000 rupees his mother gave.

He finds it difficult to put in words the elation after buying his first cricket kit. Azam took care of his bat, and it lasted for a good 2-3 years, but the right-hander has lost it now.

Speaking to Dawn News, Babar Azam said, “We were not financially sound at that time so my mother gave me the money she had saved to buy my first kit. At that time, she had given me around 3-4000 Rs out of which I had bought my first bat for 2-2500 Rs. The excitement of buying your first kit cannot be expressed in words. I played with it for 2-3 years and took good care of it but I have lost it now.”

The 26-year-old thanked his father, Azam Siddique, for the immense support. Siddique used to go to all of Babar’s matches and provide him with feedback on his performance. However, this year, because of the lockdown and covid-19 restrictions, he is sitting at home and watching all matches of the Pakistan team, be it T20, domestic, or under-19. Along with his parents, the Lahore-born thanked his other family members for their support.

“I would especially like to mention my father – who used to take me to all the matches, watch all of them, give me feedback after every match that helped me a lot. It’s been 1 year that he is not sitting at home else he would watch all Pakistan’s matches, T20 or domestic or U19, he never missed them. He supported me throughout and I also received plenty of support from my other family members,” he added.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma Didn’t Travel To Australia After IPL Because His Father Was Suffering From COVID-19