Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam has achieved a massive milestone in international cricket and joined the legendary Indian batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in this elite list. It is a huge achievement for Babar, who is seen as one of the best batters Pakistan has ever produced.
Babar achieved this feat during the first Test of the series between South Africa and Pakistan at Centurion. He came in to bat at No. 3 instead of his usual No. 4 spot in Test cricket.
Babar Azam becomes the third player to achieve this milestone
During the match, Babar Azam completed 4000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved this feat in his first ball of the match. Babar walked in to bat after the fall of Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood.
4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Test runs ✅@bbrzm5<!–>8 is only the third player to score over 4,000 runs in all three formats of the game! 🤩👏#–>SvA<!–>K p–>i.wte.o/N4Y78
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) Dcme 6 04
He got a gentle loosener on the pads first up which he comfortably flicked past square leg for a four. It was a gift for the former Pakistan captain and he made full use of it by putting the ball away to the boundary.
Babar became only the third player in the history of the game to score over 4000 runs in all the formats – Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the only other players to achieve this milestone before.
Babar Azam already has already scored 4223 runs in T20Is and close to 6000 runs in ODI cricket. After completing 4000 runs in Tests, he has now joined the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the elite list.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli the other two players
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the first two players to score over 4000 runs in all the formats of the game. Both of them are still active players in Tests and ODIs but retired from the T20I format after the end of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Kohli has scored over 9000 runs in Tests and almost 14000 runs in ODIs. He finished with 4188 runs in T20Is at an average of 48.69. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has close to 11000 runs in ODIs and has scored 4289 runs in Tests. The Indian skipper finished as the highest run-scorer in T20Is at the time of his retirement with 4231 runs to his name.
Babar Azam dismissed cheaply
Meanwhile, Babar Azam might have achieved a massive feat but it wasn’t a great day for him with the bat. After striking a boundary in his first ball, he couldn’t add more runs to his tally and was dismissed a few balls later.
The 30-year-old was dismissed for just 4 off 11 balls after playing a loose drive away from his body. Babar pushed at a wide delivery moving away and got an outside edge. The ball went to Aiden Markram at slip who took a sharp catch.
Babar was absolutely gutted at his shot selection. It was an indecisive push from him as he was caught in two minds. His wicket meant that his poor form continues in Test cricket. This was his comeback game after being dropped from the home Test series against England.