Babar Azam Sets All-Time High Record On Test Captaincy Return For Pakistan

Babar Azam vs West Indies [Source: AFP]

Over the past decade, Babar Azam has emerged as one of the modern-day greats for the volume of runs he has scored across formats and with consistency. Since his first international appearance in May 2015, only Joe Root and Virat Kohli have scored more runs than him.

Last week, Babar Azam returned as Pakistan’s Test captain against the West Indies, right at the cusp of creating history. While he could not get a big score, despite a good start from the top-order, he entered the record books during his short stay at the crease.

Babar Azam achieves rare feat in Tarouba

Trailing the host’s 311 runs after being put into bowl first, Babar Azam walked in to bat on Day 2 evening. Ahead of the innings, his Test run tally read 4481 runs in 62 Tests, averaging 42.67. At the fag end of Day 2, he was dismissed for 23 off 38, with 3 fours to his name.

Thanks to this knock, he became the first-ever player to breach the 4,500-run mark across all three formats of the game. He had crossed the 4,5000 run mark in T20Is earlier this year during the build-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Babar Azam numbers by format:

• ODIs- 6626 runs in 140 innings;
• T20Is- 4596 runs in 136 innings;
• Tests- 4504 runs* in 115 innings.

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Babar Azam’s international stats

In recent times, there have been some questions over Babar Azam’s approach and lack of big-game performances, especially during the ICC tournaments. Regardless of that, Babar Azam has shown great consistency for almost a decade, performing well against almost all oppositions.

Currently, he is the all-time highest run-scorer in T20I cricket, having scored 4596 runs in 145 matches, at an average of 38.94, with three hundreds and a staggering 39 fifties. His strike rate of 128.02 has been a bit of a concern.

On the other hand, he has an impeccable ODI record of 6626 runs in 143 matches at an average of 53.43 and a strike rate of 86.59. He has scored 20 hundreds and 38 fifties, showing his excellent conversion rate.

Lastly, in Tests, he has had a dip in form in the last few years but has scored 4504 runs in 63 Tests, averaging 42.49 with 9 centuries and 31 fifties.

Overall, his 15726 runs across 391 innings are the third most since his debut. Joe Root has scored 18575 runs in 409 innings, and Virat Kohli has 18303 runs in 394 innings in this time period.

Is Babar Azam’s form a cause for concern?

Pakistan cricket has faced a lot of adversity over the past few years, irrespective of the format they have played. This is when a batter like Babar Azam is expected to lead them from the front.

However, contrary to his reputation, Babar Azam has not been able to score any Test century since the start of 2023. He has averaged 26.84 in 32 Test innings, scoring only 859 runs in this time. On the other hand, while he has scored decently in ODIs, his strike rate has been concerning at 79.91 in 50 innings, which is a similar case in the T20Is, where he was also dropped from the team.

Now that he has been reappointed as the Test captain, replacing Shan Masood, Babar Azam must step up and rack up big totals to bring some positive results for Pakistan after achieving this new personal milestone.

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