Babar Azam has made it clear that he wants to become the best all-format player in the world. Revealing his intentions in an interview with the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Pakistan cricket team skipper said that it was his “dream” to become the numero uno batter in Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODIs), and T20Is.

Babar Azam is currently the top-ranked batter in ICC's ODI and T20I rankings and occupies the fifth spot on the charts in Test cricket behind the Australian duo Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and England's star player Joe Root.

No cricketer in the history of men's cricket has held the No.1 ranking in all three formats of the sport and hence Babar Azam would become the man to do so.

“As a player it's a dream to become the No. 1 in all formats and, for that, you have to focus and put in hard work. It's not like if you are the top player in one or two formats, you go easy,” Babar told the ICC.

“If you are to become No.1 in all three, you have to keep yourself fit and on track. There is back-to-back cricket and the gap is less. For that, you need to be extra fit. It's something I am preparing for. It's going well in white-ball and hopefully, I will be able to do well in Tests too,” he added.

Earlier India's Dinesh Karthik had backed Babar Azam to reach the milestone soon.

“One-hundred per cent (Babar is capable of achieving that),” Karthik said in a conversation with the ICC.

“He is a high-quality player who is at the peak of his batting prowess and he has got some Test matches coming up. He has been phenomenal in all three formats of the game and he has done well in different batting positions too. I wish him all the best and think he has the potential. He has got all the following of Pakistan helping him in abundance to go on and do special things for his country,” the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) middle-order batter explained.

Babar Azam's comments about becoming the world's best batter across all three formats of cricket come days ahead of Pakistan's ODI series against the West Indies which is scheduled to be played in Multan next week.

The rescheduled three ODI were earlier set to be hosted by Pakistan in December. But the South Asian nation was forced to suspend them at that stage after cases of COVID-19 spiralled in the Windies camp following Babar Azam and company's whitewash in the T20Is.

In March-April of this year, Australia toured Pakistan for three ODIs, and it was Babar Azam who guided them to a 2-1 triumph over the Kangaroos as he smashed two centuries and a fifty to be crowned as the player of the series.

Now Babar Azam wants to put up a similar show against the West Indies.

“As a team, as a captain, you go into the series thinking about a clean sweep, whoever the opponent is. We went with the same thought against Australia, to play tough cricket and dominate. The intent is the same against West Indies, but it's not like we are underestimating them,” Babar said.

“They also have the capacity to give you a tough time as, on the day, they are a dangerous team. You can't take them easy,” he concluded.

The series is important for both teams, especially for Pakistan as Babar Azam and his teammates are tenth in the qualification race for the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. Only the top-eight sides automatically qualify for the quadrennial event.

On the other hand, the West Indies are comfortably placed as they are in the sixth spot at present. Yet the Nicholas Pooran-led team would like to improve their position as they wouldn't want to leave everything for the last.

Coming back to Babar Azam's overall record in the ODIs, the 27-year-old has amassed 4261 runs in 86 matches with 16 centuries in his illustrious career so far.

But the most impressive part of his batting figures is his average which hovers around the 60 mark.

Before Babar Azam, it was ex-India captain Virat Kohli who was considered the finest all-format batter.

Kohli though has been experiencing a prolonged slump in form that has seen him going without a hundred in more than 100 games now and even when he was at the peak of his prowess, the Delhi-born batter never succeeded in attaining the No.1 position across the three formats of the game.