'From ball-picker in 2007 to Test captain in 2021' - PCB tweets Babar Azam's inspirational story

Since his debut on the big stage against Zimbabwe in 2015, Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam has solidified his position as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era. The right-hander is second to none and boasts of having spectacular numbers to his name across all the formats.

Thus far, Babar has represented Men in Green in 77 One Day Internationals and 44 T20Is scoring 3,580 and 1681 runs respectively along with 2045 runs in 29 matches in the purest format of the game. The 26-year-old was recently named as the Pakistan captain across all the formats and will lead the team in the Test format for the first time against South Africa in the two-match Test series, starting from January 26 at National Stadium in Karachi.

However, the journey from being a nobody to the main man in Pakistan cricket wasn’t easy for Babar Azam as he faced a lot of rejections, ups and downs and highs and lows in life. Captaining Pakistan in the Tests against South Africa is nothing less than a deja vu moment for the Lahore-born.

In a video shared on the official Twitter handle of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Babar Azam talks at length about his inspiring cricket journey and how he became the captain of the Pakistan side in 2021 from being a ball-picker during the 2007 South Africa tour of Pakistan.

Babar Azam names AB de Villiers as his inspiration in cricket

In the long clip, Babar revealed that he had started his journey in the world of cricket by essaying the role of a ball-picker during the iconic South Africa tour in 2007. Azam also reminisced some fond memories from the series including Inzamam-ul-Haq’s dismissal in his last Test game.

While speaking about the events that took place 13 years back, Azam reckoned that one memory that is etched in his mind is taking the catch of a maximum by JP Duminy while standing outside the boundary during the fifth ODI and the remarks made by a player standing nearby that he (Babar) will do something big in the cricket fraternity.

Further, the Pakistan skipper also revealed that he was a great admirer of AB de Villiers and aspired to become like him someday. Babar stated that while standing at the boundary he would keenly observe AB and will continue watching him for the whole match.

Azam concluded the video saying that nothing is impossible and one should move step by step forward towards their dreams and overcome all the difficulties with their hard work and dedication.

An inspiring story – from ball-picker in 2007 to Test captain in 2021#HarHaalMainCricket #BackTheBoysInGreen #SAvPAK @babarazam258 pic.twitter.com/U20bwv1JcE

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) January 23, 2021