Babar Azam has been Pakistan’s consistent run-scorer across formats. But that’s not the case with his captaincy.
He has been on and off the captaincy duty since his first appointment in late 2019. While his numbers are good, the inconsistency since 2023 has put a question mark over his leadership credentials.
That said, here’s a look at Babar Azam’s captaincy record in all formats.
Babar Azam Captaincy Record All Formats
| Format | Mat | W | L | D | T | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 50.0 |
| ODIs | 43 | 26 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 60.47 |
| T20Is | 85 | 48 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 56.47 |
| Overall | 150 | 85 | 51 | 4 | 2 | 56.67 |
Babar Azam is the second-most successful captain for Pakistan across all formats, trailing Imran Khan.
His win percentage of around 56 is the seventh-highest by a Pakistani skipper in international cricket.
Babar is the second-most-capped player as Pakistan’s captain in international cricket. He became only the third Pakistani to lead the team in 150 international matches.
Babar has suffered the third-most losses as Pakistan captain across formats, trailing Imran Khan (67) and Misbah-ul-Haq (60).
Babar Azam Captaincy Record in Test
Babar’s Test captaincy is a mixed bag. While he had a great start, winning four series on the trot in 2021, that consistency fell apart from 2022 onwards.
Babar became the first Pakistan captain to clean-sweep South Africa in a Test series. He led Pakistan to a 2-0 victory in the 2021 home series.
He also became the first Pakistan skipper to whitewash Zimbabwe in a Test series (minimum two Tests). He guided his men to a 2-0 victory on the 2021 tour.
Pakistan also recorded their two biggest Test wins by innings against Zimbabwe under Babar’s captaincy. They won the first Test by an innings and 116 runs, followed by an innings and 147-run victory in the second match.
Babar is the first Pakistan skipper to draw two consecutive Test series in the West Indies, having done so in 2021 and 2026.
He became the third Pakistan captain to register a series sweep in Bangladesh (minimum two Tests). Under his leadership, Pakistan clinched the 2021 tour 2-0.
Pakistan suffered their first series sweep against England at home in Tests. England crushed the hosts by 3-0 in the 2022 series.
Babar Azam Test Captaincy by Opposition
| Opposition | Mat | W | L | D | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Indies | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.0 |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 |
| England | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 |
| South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| TOTAL | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 50.0 |
Babar Azam Test Captaincy Home/Away
| Conditions | Mat | W | L | D | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 20.0 |
| Away | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 75.0 |
| Neutral | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| TOTAL | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 50.0 |
Babar Azam Captaincy Record in ODI
Babar has won the joint seventh-most matches as Pakistan’s ODI captain, with 26 victories to his name.
He has the fourth-highest win percentage as Pakistan’s skipper in ODIs, which comes to 60.46 per cent.
Babar started his ODI captaincy stint with a 2-0 series victory against Zimbabwe at home in 2020.
Babar became only the second Pakistan ODI skipper to win an ODI series in South Africa. He led his team to a 2-1 victory on the 2021 tour.
Pakistan conceded a complete 3-0 whitewash against England on the 2021 tour. This made Babar only the fifth Pakistan captain to face a whitewash against England in ODIs (minimum two matches).
Under Babar’s leadership, Pakistan ended their six-series losing streak against Australia in 2022. He guided his men to a 2-1 win in the home series.
Babar became the sixth Pakistan skipper to whitewash the West Indies in a three-match ODI series. Pakistan beat the Caribbean side 3-0 in 2022.
Pakistan played their first-ever ODI bilateral series against the Netherlands in 2022, and they won it by 3-0 under Babar’s captaincy.
In April 2023, Babar led Pakistan to their first ODI series victory against New Zealand since 2011. Pakistan won the five-match home series by 4-1.
Pakistan also won their first ODI bilateral series against Afghanistan under Babar’s captaincy. They beat their neighbours by 3-0 in August 2023.
Following that, Pakistan had disappointing runs in the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup. This led to Babar stepping down from the captaincy across formats.
Babar Azam ODI Captaincy by Opposition
| Opposition | Mat | W | L | T | NR | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| South Africa | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| England | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Australia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Netherlands | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Afghanistan | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75.0 |
| Zimbabwe | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| West Indies | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| India | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| TOTAL | 43 | 26 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 60.47 |
Babar Azam ODI Captaincy Home/Away
| Conditions | Mat | W | L | T | NR | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 19 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 73.68 |
| Away | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Neutral | 13 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 53.85 |
| TOTAL | 43 | 26 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 60.47 |
Babar Azam Captaincy Record in T20I
Babar is Pakistan’s most successful captain in T20I cricket. He led them to 48 wins out of 85 matches. He is also their most capped skipper in this format.
His win percentage of 56.47 is, however, the fifth-highest as a captain for Pakistan in T20Is (minimum 10 matches).
Pakistan lost their first bilateral T20I series in Australia under Babar’s captaincy, going down 2-0 on the three-match 2019 tour (minimum two matches).
Babar became the first Pakistan skipper to win two consecutive T20I series against South Africa, that too in a span of two months. Pakistan first beat the Proteas 2-1 at home and then claimed a 3-1 series victory in South Africa in 2021.
He has also achieved the feat against Zimbabwe, leading Pakistan to back-to-back series victories at home (2020) and away (2021).
Pakistan lost three T20I series against England during Babar’s captaincy tenure, first in July 2021 (1-2), then in October 2022 (3-4) and in May 2024 (0-2).
Babar guided Pakistan to the knockouts of the T20 World Cup in consecutive editions in 2021 and 2022. Pakistan even reached the final in 2022, although they lost it to England.
In between the two T20 WCs, Pakistan won a T20I tri-series in New Zealand under Babar’s leadership. His men beat the hosts in the final.
Pakistan then had a disastrous campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup, bowing out in the league stage with just two wins. This prompted Babar’s removal from the captaincy for the second time.
Babar Azam T20I Captaincy by Opposition
| Opposition | Mat | W | L | T | NR | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 16 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 31.25 |
| New Zealand | 15 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 53.33 |
| South Africa | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 75.0 |
| Bangladesh | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Zimbabwe | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 71.43 |
| West Indies | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 57.14 |
| Australia | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| India | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 40.0 |
| Ireland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75.0 |
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Afghanistan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Scotland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| TOTAL | 85 | 48 | 29 | 1 | 7 | 56.47 |
Babar Azam T20I Captaincy Home/Away
| Conditions | Mat | W | L | T | NR | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 29 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 58.62 |
| Away | 32 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 46.88 |
| Neutral | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| TOTAL | 85 | 48 | 29 | 1 | 7 | 56.47 |
Babar Azam Batting Records as Captain
| Format | Inns (Capt) | Runs | Avg | SR | HS | 50s/100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEST | 39 | 1920 | 53.33 | 54.29 | 196 | 13/4 |
| ODI | 42 | 2370 | 60.76 | 91.22 | 158 | 17/8 |
| T20I | 78 | 2642 | 37.74 | 129.38 | 122 | 23/3 |
| TOTAL | 159 | 6932 | – | – | – | 53/15 |
Babar Azam has scored the second–most runs for Pakistan as a captain across formats, trailing Misbah-ul-Haq (7392 runs).
Meanwhile, he is the only captain to smash more than 10 centuries for Pakistan across all formats combined.
Babar also has the fifth-highest batting average (around 47) as Pakistan’s skipper in international cricket (minimum 50 innings).
He has aggregated the most runs and most centuries for Pakistan as a captain in a year across formats. He netted 2598 runs and eight hundreds in 52 innings in 2022.
Babar has scored 2642 of his 7392 runs in T20Is, the most by a Pakistan skipper in the shortest format.
He also became the first captain to smash three centuries in T20Is.
The right-hander has aggregated the fourth–most runs as Pakistan’s ODI skipper, with 2370 runs in 42 innings.
He has, meanwhile, smashed the most centuries as Pakistan captain in ODIs, with eight tons to his name.
He also has the second-highest batting average (60.76) as a captain for Pakistan in ODIs (minimum 30 innings).
Babar has accumulated the fifth–most runs as Pakistan’s Test captain.
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