Babar Azam breaks multiple records in Karachi Test
Pakistan captain Babar Azam broke the 16-year-old record held by Mohammad Yousuf in the first innings of the opening Test against New Zealand in Karachi.
Babar Azam now holds the record for the most runs in a calendar year by a Pakistan batter, going past Mohammad Yousuf’s aggregate of 2435 runs in 2006. Batting on 54* at the end of the first session, Babar has 2477 runs across all formats in 2022.
Most runs by Pakistan player in a calendar year
Rank Player Matches Runs Year
1 Babar Azam 44 2477 2022
2 Mohammad Yousuf 33 2435 2006
3 Saeed Anwar 43 2296 1996
4 Mohammad Yousuf 41 2226 2002
5 Inzamam-ul-Haq 46 2164 2000
6 Babar Azam 36 2082 2019
7 Misbah-ul-Haq 42 2078 2013
8 Mohammad Yousuf 53 2000 2000
9 Younis Khan 48 1947 2002
10 Mohammad Rizwan 44 1915 2021
The half-century also means he now holds the record for most scores of 50 or more in a calendar year. This was Babar’s 25th 50+ score, surpassing Ricky Ponting’s record of 24 in 2005.
Despite the contrasting fortunes of the team in Test cricket this year, the skipper has shone in the format with more than 1000 runs in nine matches. In this calendar year, only three other batters have managed to hit the four-figure mark in Tests
Like his innings so far in the Boxing Day Test, Babar has often been the lone warrior for Pakistan with his runs coming when Pakistan’s backs have been against the wall.
The 28-year-old has shown similar consistency in ODI cricket this year as well, scoring 679 runs in nine matches. In eight of those matches, he has registered scores of 50 or more while also marshalling his troops to three series victories.
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In the shortest format, he has accumulated 735 runs at a healthy average of 31.95 while striking at 123.32.
Most runs in a calendar year:
Rank Player Matches Runs Year
1 Ricky Ponting 46 2833 2005
2 Virat Kohli 46 2818 2017
3 Kumar Sangakkara 47 2813 2014
4 Virat Kohli 37 2735 2018
5 Kane Williamson 39 2692 2015
6 Ricky Ponting 45 2657 2003
7 Rahul Dravid 53 2626 1999
8 Kumar Sangakkara 50 2609 2006
9 Virat Kohli 37 2595 2016
10 Sourav Ganguly 51 2580 1999
11 Joe Root 41 2570 2016
12 Tillakaratne Dilshan 42 2568 2009
13 Sachin Tendulkar 39 2541 1998
14 Angelo Mathews 52 2530 2014
15 Babar Azam 44 2477 2022
16 Virat Kohli 44 2455 2019
Pakistan will be hoping that their captain can add to the runs in the ongoing Test. If he does so, he could leapfrog several legends in the all-time list and move into the top
