Babar Azam, Pakistan’s premier batter and Test captain, followed a path shaped far more by cricket grounds than classrooms. Born on October 15, 1994, in Lahore, Punjab, he grew up in a cricket-obsessed family that already had two future Pakistan internationals in Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal among his cousins. (Picture Credit: AFP)

Long before he became a household name, Babar worked as a ball boy at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, an experience that placed him close to the game at a formative age and fed his early ambition to play professionally rather than pursue academics as a primary focus. (Picture Credit: AFP)

According to some reports, Babar studied up to the 8th standard at the Ali Education System in Lahore before cricket took over his daily routine, though this detail has not been officially confirmed by Babar himself. (AP)

His early cricketing education came instead from the maidans of Lahore, where coach Rana Sadiq worked with him on the fundamentals of batting, laying the technical groundwork for a career built on classical strokeplay. (AFP)

Babar’s rise through the ranks was rapid. He represented Pakistan at the Under-19 World Cup in both 2010 and 2012, finishing as his side’s leading run-scorer on both occasions. (Picture Credit: PTI)

He made his List A and age-group debuts for domestic sides including Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited and Islamabad Leopards before going on to debut for Pakistan in ODIs against Zimbabwe in 2015. (Picture Credit: AFP)

Formal education took a back seat for good once Babar established himself in the national team, becoming ODI captain by 2019 and Test captain by 2020, with no record of him pursuing a college or university degree during this period.
(AFP)

In May 2023, Babar Azam added an unusual academic credential to his profile when he and teammate Mohammad Rizwan became the first cricketers to enrol in Harvard Business School’s executive education programme on the Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports, a four-day course he said he took up out of a desire to ‘connect, explore, listen, learn, grow and give back to the community worldwide.’