Staff Report
KARACHI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has become the highest scorer Pakistani in a calendar year as he broke the 16-year-old record of former batter Mohammad Yousuf in the first innings of the opening Test against New Zealand in Karachi.
The Pakistani skipper surpassed Yousuf’s aggregate of 2435 runs in 2006. Having scored a century on the first day of the Karachi Test, he now has more than 2500 runs across all formats in 2022.
New record: most 50s or more in a calendar year
With the latest half-century, the 28-year-old now also holds the record for registering the most scores of 50 or more in a single year. It was Babar’s 25th 50+ score, as he broke former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting’s record of 24 in 2005.
Only three other batters have made it through the four-figure mark in Tests in 2022.
This year, Babar has shown similar consistency in the One Day (ODI) format as well, scoring 679 runs in nine matches. In eight of those matches, he registered scores of 50 or above while also leading his teammates to three series victories.
