Babar Azam slammed his second half-century of the ongoing Karachi Test (against England) on Day 3. Babar, who fell for a well-made 54, scored 78 in the first innings. In the process, he completed 1,000 runs in the format in 2022.
Babar has become the first Pakistan skipper to have completed 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year. Inzamam-ul-Haq previously held the record for the most Test runs by a Pakistan skipper in a year (999 in 2005).
Babar now has 10 fifty-plus scores in Test cricket this year (seven fifties, three centuries). He has equaled Inzamam's record of the most fifty-plus Test scores by a Pakistan captain in a calendar year.
Babar is the fourth batsman to have touched the 1,000-run mark in Test cricket in 2022. He is only behind Joe Root (1,098), Usman Khawaja (1,079), and Jonny Bairstow (1,061) in terms of Test runs this year.
In the second innings during the Karachi Test, Babar brought up his 26th Test fifty. It was his 24th fifty-plus score as captain this year, now the joint-most by a player across formats in a calendar year, with Ricky Ponting.