Babar Hayat

Babar Hayat is a hard-hitting batter, although his best strokes are often surprisingly smooth. He can play lofted drives through cover, slog to cow corner, and negotiate pace and spin, all with an air of calmness and clarity at the crease.

Born in Attock, Pakistan, Hayat grew up playing tape-ball cricket before moving to Hong Kong with his family aged 15 in 2007. He spoke neither English nor Cantonese and had never played with a leather ball, but quickly attracted attention in school and club cricket, winning Player of the Year in only his second season in the Sunday Premier Division. His rise continued through Hong Kong's junior sides before he became an international regular.

Hayat has produced some of Hong Kong's most memorable innings. He made 122 off 60 balls against Oman in the 2016 T20 Asia Cup, then followed it with a hundred and a double-hundred in first-class cricket in 2017. He also played important roles in Hong Kong's first T20 and ODI wins over Afghanistan. The first of these, in 2015 in Malahide, took Hong Kong straight to the 2016 T20 World Cup while the latter, in 2018 in the 50-over World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo, was their first win against a Full Member side.

A spell of intense fitness work transformed Hayat's game, allowing him to play those marathon first-class innings in 2017 - 173 against Netherlands at home and an unbeaten 214 against Papua New Guinea in Sharjah. He is also Hong Kong's leading T20I run-scorer, with more than 2600 runs, and among the top three in ODIs.