Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam came to international circles as a promising all-rounder in 2011, on the back of some marvellous performances at the Under-19 World Cup. Azam is an explosive middle-order batsman and a handy medium pacer who plays for Northern Pakistan domestically, while he represents Peshawar Zalmi at Pakistan Super League (PSL). 

In 2010, Azam represented Pakistan under-19 team in the World Cup. The allrounder was his team’s heartthrob during the World Cup as he scored 173 runs in six games, including the best of 92* against the West Indies in the semi-final. The following year, the promising Azam was called up for the limited-overs series tour of the Caribbean. 

The all-rounder made his ODI debut against West Indies at Gros Islet but didn’t get a chance to bat until his third ODI. During his maiden outing, he scored a struggling 36 with the bat, while his first maiden was of Marlon Samuels. In 2012, Azam made his T20I debut against England on their tour of the UAE. However, the all-rounder was dropped from the national team in 2013, after mediocre performances. 

Three years later, Azam made a comeback during the historic series against Zimbabwe where international cricket returned to the country after six years. He played three ODIs more where he batted once to score 4 runs and went wicketless throughout the series, hence, the allrounder was dropped. 

In 2019, Azam represented the Sindh region during the Pakistan Cup, where he scored a tally of 144 runs and took nine wickets to book the Best All-rounder of the Tournament award. The following season, Azam was picked by the Peshawar-based franchise for PSL 2020, formerly he has represented Lahore Qalandars in the league.

The Northern Pakistan think-tank handed Azam the captaincy role for the 2021 season of the domestic 50-over tournament. The allrounder led from the front for his side. 

(As of May 2021)