Babar, Rizwan become first cricketers to join Harvard Business School

Pakistan captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan have enrolled in Harvard Business School's executive education programme on the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports (BEMS).

Babar and Rizwan are the first players to join the coveted curriculum.

Football stars Kaka, Edwin van der Sar, Gerard Pique, Oliver Kahn, Brandon Marshall of the NFL, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade of the NBA, and Alex Rodriguez of Major League Baseball are among others who have previously completed the course.

Babar and Rizwan will attend the programme from May 31 to June 3 at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. Following the programme, the duo will engage with various communities in the United States until June 13.

"It is a huge honor to represent Pakistan on such a prestigious global stage. We are going to the BEMS program at Harvard to learn from the best of the best in the world – both in terms of faculty and program fellows – and at the same time to share our journey and learnings with everyone. I am certain that this will be an exciting journey, and I look forward to sharing our learning and experiences with the next superstars of the cricket world," Rizwan said.

Meanwhile, Babar also echoed similar thoughts.

"I am a lifelong learner and I have had detailed chats about this program with Prof. Elberse and [Talha] Rehmani. My inspiration for joining this world-class program at Harvard is to connect, explore, listen, learn, grow, and give back to the community worldwide. I am sure there are scores of things to learn from the amazing athletes and top business executives from the entertainment, media, and sports industries who are coming from corners of the world," said Babar.

The programme will be chaired by Professor Anita Elberse, one of the youngest women ever to earn tenure at Harvard Business School.