Hong Kong Cricket Men’s national squad captain, Babar Hayat has come a long way in his domestic and International career so far and is in no intentions to stop anytime soon as he starts to ply his trade in other countries via T20/T10 leagues.
Babar’s growth of stature among the T20/T10 leagues across the globe started from Hong Kong itself, where he has been leading the domestic franchise, Kowloon Cantons in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz since its inception, three years ago. The league provided Babar Hayat and many other domestic performers a global stage to showcase their talent (The first edition was badly affected due to weather but the next two editions have seen tremendous success) and to get noticed by different franchise clubs/teams in other T20 leagues as well.
His big break came in 2017 when he was drafted by the Kerala Kings franchise in the T10 league held in UAE. Although he didn’t get a game in the tournament, it was his first taste of a professional league outside his country in the past couple of years.
Babar took upon the chance to play in Nepal’s Everest Premier League (EPLT20) in Dec 2017 and was the highest run-scorer for the tournament with 313 runs from 7 matches at an average of 44.71, turning out for the eventual Champions, Biratnagar Warriors.
A successful stint again in the 2018 HKT20 Blitz saw him make 191 runs in 4 matches for Kowloon Cantons, although the team didn’t make it to the Final, thus ending their reign as Champions from the previous edition in 2017. His runs at an average of 47.75 made him the third highest run-scorer in the tournament.
Babar will be teaming up with a host of International stars from different countries as he joins Vancouver Knights for the inaugural edition of GT20 in Canada in few weeks from now. It’ll be thrilling to see his combination with either Chris Gayle or Evin Lewis at the top of the order for Vancouver and will be a massive threat for the opponents. Babar is one of the two players from Hong Kong selected in the players draft held on 03rd Jun 2018 along with Nizakat Khan, who will be playing for Toronto Nationals.
For full squads of 5 Franchises in Canada GT20, click here.
