Pakistan's Babar Azam hopes to fulfil childhood dream with twin World Cup glory

Babar Azam, Pakistan's high-flying captain, expects that his incredible run-scoring may propel his country to World Cup triumph and, in the process, fulfil a childhood goal. The 27-year-old is in top form in all three formats of international cricket, and he made history last week by being the first hitter in ODI history to hit three straight hundreds on two separate occasions. 

However, in an interview with news agency AFP, Azam said that his prolific record would be meaningless if he did not win the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and the 50-over World Cup in India next year.

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Babar has been in exceptional form, especially since becoming the all-format captain for Pakistan in 2019. After a century in the first ODI in the recently concluded West Indies tour of Pakistan, He became the first player to score three consecutive centuries on two separate occasions. 

The Pakistan captain recalled that his passion for cricket started when he was 12 and credited his father's support. Babar was a ball boy for a Pakistan-South Africa test in 2007, and he met his idol AB de Villiers in that Test match. 

In the interview, when talking about his form, Babar Azam said, "No doubt I am enjoying my form, But with this form, my prime goal is to win the two World Cups for Pakistan in the next one-and-a-half years, and if that happens I will feel that my runs are worth gold." 

Babar said about his passion for cricket, "When I started playing cricket as a schoolboy, the target was to play international cricket for Pakistan, become the world's top batsman in such a manner that it helps my team to win all the titles. I was crazy about cricket in my childhood, and noticing that passion, my father backed me."

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The T20 and ODI World Number one batter has been close to a World Cup glory in the past. In the 2019 ODI World Cup, Pakistan missed the semi-finals due to the net run rate. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan made it to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, they lost in the 19th over after Matthew Wade hit Shaheen Shah Afridi for three consecutive sixes. 

Babar has performed well individually in world cups and hopes his team can help him lift Pakistan's first T20 World Cup in 13 years and their first ODI first world in 31 years.