Early career On 31 May 2015, Azam was included in the
Pakistan ODI squad for the home series
against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut in the third ODI on 31 May and scored an impressive fifty scoring 54 runs off 60 balls. His impressive debut earned him a place in both Test and ODI squads selected for an away series against
Sri Lanka. He was not selected to play in the Test series. During the ODI series, he only scored 37 runs in the two matches that he played. Azam was included in the squad for the away ODI series
against Zimbabwe in September 2015. He was retained in the One Day squad for the home series
against England. In the first ODI of the four match series he scored 62 not out with a strike rate of 100. He had scores of 4, 22 and 51 in next three matches respectively. He finished the series with 139 runs at an average of 46.33. In January 2016, Pakistan
visited New Zealand. In the first ODI match, Azam scored 62 runs off 76 balls. Pakistan lost the match by 70 runs. He was the leading run scorer in the ODI series with 145 runs in 2 innings at an average of 72.50. In the five-match ODI series
against England in July, he batted in five games and only scored 122 runs. He made his
Twenty20 International debut for Pakistan against
England on 7 September. He scored an unbeaten 15 runs off 11 balls. Pakistan won the match and series. Besides the England series, Pakistan played two match ODI series
against Ireland. In the first ODI of the series, Pakistan beat Ireland by 255 runs and created record of their biggest win in terms of runs in an ODI. Azam contributed in his team's victory by scoring 29 runs.
Rise in shorter formats and breaking records Azam was selected in the home series
against the West Indies in 2016. In the first match of the ODI series he scored his maiden international century, scoring 120 off 131 balls and earning his first man of the Match award. In the second ODI, he scored another century, this time scoring 123 off 126 balls, and contributing to Pakistan's total of over 330 runs. In the third and final ODI of the series Azam scored a third consecutive century (117 from 106). He became the only batsman to score 350+ runs in a three match ODI series. He made his
Test debut for Pakistan
against the West Indies in
Dubai on 13 October 2016 and scored 69
runs in his first innings. He was the first player to score a fifty on his Test debut through a day/night Test. On 19 January 2017, in the
third ODI against Australia, Azam became then joint-fastest player to score 1,000 runs in ODIs and then fastest for Pakistan in his 21st innings before his record was later surpassed by his compatriot
Fakhar Zaman. He scored a century in the fifth ODI, which was only the second century ever scored by a Pakistani batsman in Australia after
Zaheer Abbas in 1981. He also entered the top 10 batsmen's ranking in ODIs for the first time ever.
Sarfaraz Ahmed replaced
Azhar Ali as Pakistan's ODI team captain
against the West Indies after Azhar Ali stepped down from the captaincy after a defeat
against Australia in ODI series. Azam scored an unbeaten 125 in the 2nd ODI of the three–match ODI series at
Providence Stadium,
Guyana. In the
Champions Trophy 2017, Azam scored 46 off 52 balls in the final match against
India. In the first T20I played at
Gaddafi Stadium,
Lahore, he scored 86 playing only 52 balls, and won his first Man of the match award in T20Is, helping Pakistan win the match by 20 runs. He had scores of 45 and 48 in the next two fixtures. In the second ODI he became the fastest batsman to score 7th ODI century in ODIs and the first batsman in ODI history to score five consecutive centuries in one country. He had scores of 30 and 69 (not out) in next two innings while chasing. At the 2017 PCB awards, he was awarded Pakistan's ODI Player of the year. He was also listed in 2017's
ICC World ODI XI for the first time ever. Pakistan's first assignment in 2018 was
tour to New Zealand. Azam was an automatic selection in the ODI team. However he could score only 0, 10, 8, 3, 10 across 5 innings, scoring only 31 runs at an average of 6.2 as Pakistan were whitewashed 5–0, his worst series until date. But performed well in the
T20I series and contributed in team's winning the series 2–1. Azam was the leading run scorer with 109 runs. He had scores of 41, 50* and 18 in these T20Is. but soon slipped to no. 3 position. He regained no. 1 spot in the rankings after a successful series against
West Indies, who were touring Pakistan after thirteen years. His best performance came in the second T20I where he scored an unbeaten 97 runs which won him a Man of the match award. He finished the series as leading run-getter with 165 runs at an average of 82.50 and a strike rare of 148.64, and won the man of the series. Pakistan won the series 3–0.Babar, Fakhar lead Pakistan to 3–0. During a Test match against England in May 2018, Azam was struck on the arm without padding by a bouncer from
Ben Stokes, when he was batting on 68. After an X-ray examination, it was confirmed that Azam had a fracture in his left wrist with a broken forearm. After fully recovering from his injury, he made his return to the team against
Zimbabwe in July for a five-match ODI series. He performed well and managed to score 184 runs at an average of 184 in 4 innings including 76 balls 106 runs in the final odi of the series. Playing his first
Asia Cup, he didn't have a good time of it, only managing to score 156 runs at an average of 31.20 in 5 matches. In November 2018, in the second Test
against New Zealand, Azam scored his first century in Test cricket. In January 2019, in a feature for
ESPNcricinfo, Osman Samiuddin highlighted Azam’s exceptional record against elite fast bowling early in his career, focusing particularly on his performances against South African pacer
Dale Steyn. Using comparative metrics, the article noted that Babar had handled Steyn, widely regarded as the greatest fast bowler of the 21st century, with a level of composure and technical assurance unmatched by most contemporary batsmen. Samiuddin discussed how Babar’s balance, timing, and ability to play late allowed him to neutralise Steyn’s pace and movement, framing their encounters as an early indication of Babar’s rise among the world’s premier batters.
2019 Cricket World Cup In April 2019, he was named in
Pakistan's squad for the
2019 Cricket World Cup. The
International Cricket Council (ICC) named him as one of the five exciting talents making their Cricket World Cup debut. In May 2019, he was also signed by
Somerset as their overseas player for the
2019 t20 Blast. Just before the World Cup, Pakistan played
against England in one-off T20I and 5-match ODI series to prepare for the tournament. In the T20I fixture he scored 65 from 42 balls before getting run-out. In the 5-match ODI series, he ended up as the joint leading runs-scorer, scoring 277 runs including a century and two half-centuries, going into the World Cup with runs under his belt. On 26 June 2019, in the match against
New Zealand, Azam became the fastest batsman for Pakistan, in terms of innings, to score 3,000 runs in ODIs (68). In the same match, he also scored his 10th century in ODIs, finishing 101
not out, with Pakistan winning by 6 wickets. With this century, he also became the first middle-order batsman from Pakistan to hit a century in a World Cup match after 32 years. A week later, in the match against
Bangladesh, Azam broke
Javed Miandad's record of the most runs by a Pakistani batsman in a single edition of the World Cup, scoring 474 runs in 8 innings.
Test performances and leadership roles In September 2019, before the home series
against Sri Lanka, he was named as the vice-captain of Pakistan cricket team in both ODIs and T20Is, on the back of his consistent performances in these formats. After the first ODI was washed out, Pakistan managed to win both of the remaining matches to clinch the series 2–0. He scored his 11th ton in the second ODI and became the fastest Pakistani player to reach 1,000 ODI runs in terms of innings in a calendar year beating the previous record of
Javed Miandad. In October 2019, he was named captain of the Pakistan cricket team in T20Is, ahead of the
Australia series. In the first Test of the series, he scored his second Test century, against a strong bowling line up. He missed out on his second consecutive century when he was dismissed on 97 in the second Test match. He scored 210 runs with an average of 52.50. In December 2019,
Sri Lanka returned to Pakistan for a two-match Test series. This marked the return of Test cricket in Pakistan after a decade's absence, with
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hosting the first Test match. Azam, batting in his first ever Test inning on home soil, scored an unbeaten quick-fire century on day 5 of the rain-affected match, resulting in a draw. In the Second Test, played at
National Stadium, he scored 60 and 100 not out respectively, ending the series with 262 runs with an average of exactly 262. Pakistan won the match by 263 runs, winning the series 1–0. In January 2020, he was named in 2019's ICC World ODI XI, making the list for the second time. In January 2020,
Bangladesh toured Pakistan for a three-match T20I series, with Azam captaining Pakistan for the first time at home. Pakistan won the T20I series 2–0, with the third match abandoned due to rain. It was Pakistan's first series win under his captaincy and his first Player of the series award as captain. In the first match of the
Test series, he scored fluent 143 runs, beating his previous career best score of 127*. In May 2020, he was appointed as ODI captain as well. In June 2020, he was named as the T20I captain in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's
tour to England during the
COVID-19 pandemic to play three Tests and three T20Is. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. During the first day of the first Test, he scored an attacking unbeaten 69 runs in difficult conditions, to help his team get out of danger, his knock earned him appreciation from former England captains, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan. In the third and final Test of the series, he scored his 2,000th run in Test cricket, achieving the feat in his 29th Test. He finished the series with 195 runs at an average of 48.75 in five innings with two half-centuries. In the second T20I against England, he became the joint-fastest batsman to score 1,500 runs in T20Is, reaching the milestone in 39 innings. He finished the series with 77 runs in two innings. Pakistan drew the series 1–1, after winning the third and final T20I, with the first match being washed out. On 8 September 2020, he slipped to number two position in the T20I batsmen ranking after leading it for 22 months. He captained the team for the
first time in ODIs in Pakistan's home series
against Zimbabwe. Pakistan won the series 2–1. He scored 221 runs including a century score of 125 runs in the 3rd and final ODI and was named as Man of the series. In the first T20I of the series
against Zimbabwe, he scored 82 runs, becoming the first batsman to score more than 1,000 runs in T20 cricket for the second consecutive year. On 10 November 2020, Azam was appointed captain of Pakistan's Test team, ahead of their
tour to New Zealand. He suffered a thumb injury while practicing and was ruled out of the Test series and later from the T20I series as well. On 26 December 2022, Azam breaks the 16-year-old record of scoring the most runs in a calendar year by a Pakistan batter, going past
Mohammad Yousuf. He achieved this feat while batting in the first Test of
New Zealand tour of Pakistan at
National Stadium, Karachi. He also achieved the feat of highest run scorer in Test cricket for the year 2022 in the same match, going past England's
Joe Root.
No. 1 ODI batsman In April 2021, while playing against South Africa in the first ODI, Azam scored his 13th ODI century in his 76th innings, making him the quickest to reach this mark, surpassing the record of
Hashim Amla who took 83 innings to achieve the record. At the end of the series, he became the No. 1 ODI batsman, with 865 points, surpassing
Virat Kohli who had previously been the top-rated ODI batsman for 1258 days.
2021–present On 14 April 2021, Azam scored his maiden T20I century (122), in a winning cause against South Africa in the Centurion Stadium. He and
Mohammad Rizwan shared a partnership of 197 runs, which is the highest partnership for Pakistan in T20Is and the fourth-highest partnership of all time in the format. On 25 April 2021, in the third T20I
against Zimbabwe, Azam became the fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to
score 2,000 runs in T20Is, doing so in his 52nd innings. In September 2021, Azam was named as the captain of Pakistan's squad for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. During the tournament he regained his position as the number one T20I batsman in the rankings. Azam has broken the record of most fifties (4) and runs (303) in a T20 World Cup edition. He led Pakistan to the semi-finals, where they lost to
Australia, ending their campaign. In March 2022,
Australia toured Pakistan after 24 years, in the second test match of the series, during which he scored 196 runs and broke the record of most runs by a captain in the fourth innings of a test. A week later, during the first ODI against
Australia played at
Gaddafi Stadium, he became the second fastest overall and fastest Asian to score 4,000 ODI runs, achieving the feat in his 82nd inning. Few days later, during the second ODI match, he became the first Pakistani skipper to score an ODI century against Australia, also becoming the fastest batter overall in terms of innings (83) to score 15th ODI century, and helped Pakistan to register their highest successful run chase in ODIs. In the third and decider match of the series, he scored yet another hundred which helped Pakistan chase 211 runs comfortably and win the series 2–1. This was Pakistan's first ODI series win against
Australia since 2002. He was titled man of the match for second consecutive time in the series and also man of the series for his 276 runs with an average of 138.00. Azam captained Pakistan in the
2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. In the semi-final against
New Zealand on 9 November, he scored 53 runs off 42 balls and, alongside
Mohammad Rizwan (57 off 43 balls), shared a crucial partnership that guided Pakistan to chase 153/3 in 19.1 overs, winning by seven wickets. In the
T20 World Cup final on 13 November 2022, Azam scored 32 runs off 28 balls as captain, but Pakistan were defeated by
England, who chased 138/5 to win by five wickets with six balls remaining, leaving Pakistan as runners-up. , where Azam has scored centuries in all three
formats of the game. On 14 April 2023, in the
first T20I against New Zealand, Azam played in his 100th T20I match, becoming the third Pakistani player to so. On 15 April 2023, he claimed his third T20I century, scoring 101 runs off 58 balls, becoming the first captain to score three centuries in T20Is. He led his team to a 38-run victory over New Zealand in the second T20I, becoming the joint player to secure
most wins in T20Is as captain (42). On 5 May 2023, during the 4th ODI against
New Zealand, he became the fastest batter in the history of ODI cricket to score 5000 runs in terms of inning (97), in the same match he scored his 18th ODI century becoming the fastest to do so. Pakistan won the match by 102 runs and under his captaincy Pakistan became no. 1 ODI team after 33 years. On 30 August 2023, Azam became the fastest player to score 19 One Day International centuries, achieving the feat in just 102
innings. He broke the previous record held by
Hashim Amla, who reached the milestone in 104 innings. Azam achieved this record during the
2023 Asia Cup, where he scored 151 runs against
Nepal. On 15 November 2023, Azam resigned from captaincy in all formats following Pakistan's disappointing
World Cup campaign. However, he was reappointed as Pakistan's
limited overs captain on 31 March 2024. In May 2024, he was named the captain in Pakistan's squad for the
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. On 1 October 2024, Azam resigned from the limited overs captaincy for a second time citing his workload and his desire to focus on his batting. On 13 October 2024, Azam became the fastest Asian batter to reach 11000 runs in international cricket. In March 2025, first time in his career, he was dropped from T20 squad. In October 2025 after an absence of 8 months from T20 format, he was selected again for the T20 series against
South Africa and
Zimbabwe . On 31 October 2025, he hit 4,234 runs and became the
highest run-scorer in T20 Internationals, surpassing
Rohit Sharma's 4,231 during the
home series against South Africa. In the third T20I, he produced a commanding innings of 68 off 47 balls, guiding Pakistan in their chase of 140 to a six-wicket win with an over to spare. It was his 37th T20I half-century, his first since May 2024, and helped Pakistan clinch the series 2–1. For his performance, he was named Player of the Match, and he also surpassed
Virat Kohli in the number of 50-plus T20I scores, reaching 40 in 124 innings. In the 2nd ODI of the
home series against Sri Lanka, played on 14 November 2025, Pakistan chased down Sri Lanka’s target of 289 to secure the series victory. Azam ended a prolonged century drought, hitting his first international century in more than two years, also scoring his 20th ODI hundred, a landmark that allowed him to equal
Saeed Anwar’s Pakistan record for most ODI centuries. His innings anchored Pakistan’s chase, with the senior batters contributing to a comfortable win. He was declared
Player of the Match. Babar Azam scored 50 off 36 balls in the third T20I against Australia in February 2026, surpassing Virat Kohli to become the player with the most fifties in T20 internationals. ==Domestic and franchise cricket==