Trinidad, August 2, 2026: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has become only the third skipper in the country’s cricket history to lead the national team in 150 or more international matches across all formats, joining legendary captains Imran Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq in an exclusive club.
The milestone came after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently reinstated Babar as Test captain, replacing Shan Masood ahead of Pakistan’s away Test tours of the West Indies and England.
According to the latest captaincy records, Babar has now led Pakistan in 150 international matches across Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Only Imran Khan, who captained Pakistan in 187 matches, and Misbah-ul-Haq with 151 matches, have led the national side more often.
Babar also ranks second on Pakistan’s all-format list for most victories as captain, having guided the team to 84 wins, behind Imran Khan’s 89 victories and ahead of Misbah-ul-Haq’s 77 wins.
Overall, Babar’s captaincy record stands at 84 wins, 51 defeats, two ties, four draws and eight no-results from 150 international matches, giving him a win percentage of 56 per cent.
Former captain Wasim Akram follows Babar with leadership in 134 internationals, while Inzamam-ul-Haq (119 matches) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (100 matches) complete Pakistan’s top six most-capped international captains.
The 31-year-old has also returned to the Test captaincy with a respectable record in the longest format. During his first tenure between 2020 and 2023, he captained Pakistan in 22 Tests, winning 10, losing seven and drawing four for a win percentage of 45.45 per cent.
His predecessor, Shan Masood, took charge before Pakistan’s tour of Australia in late 2023 and finished his tenure with four wins and 12 defeats in 16 Tests, including a 3-0 series loss in Australia.
Babar’s leadership journey began in October 2019, when he was appointed Pakistan’s T20I captain. He was named ODI captain in May 2020 before taking over the Test side later the same year, becoming the country’s all-format captain.
His first spell as all-format captain ended in November 2023, when he stepped down following Pakistan’s disappointing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign in India. The PCB restored him as white-ball captain in March 2024, but he resigned again in October 2024, citing workload management and a desire to focus on his batting.
Across his two white-ball captaincy stints, Babar led Pakistan in 43 ODIs, winning 26 matches, while also becoming the country’s most-capped T20I captain by leading the team in 85 T20 internationals, securing 48 victories.
