Babar Azam, the all-format skipper of Pakistan, has proved himself as one of the best batters in contemporary cricket with his consistency, spectacular flair, and shot selection.
Former players now think that Babar is on par with contemporary batting greats because of his comparisons to Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steven Smith, and Joe Root, which have become the talk of the town.
Ian Chappell, a former Australian cricketer, commended Babar Azam’s finely honed technique, drives, and stroke selection, writing, “Babar is a complete player with his flowing drives and all-around shot range.”
“To round out the picture, he has a game that fits all three formats, but his Test batting, with an ability to compile centuries, stands out,” he continued.
It is important to note that the 27-year-old has been in form since assuming the captaincy of the national team, and he has already recently broken multiple batting records of all-time greats across formats.
The right-hander finished the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE last year having scored 303 runs in six innings, including four half-centuries, and leading the Men in Green to the semi-finals.
Test cricket is a format of the game with the longest match duration and is considered the game’s highest standard. Some players with outstanding performances during their career managed to cross the benchmark of 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
Here is a list of all cricketers who managed to cross the 10,000 mark. It includes three players from India, three from Australia, two from Sir Lanka, two from West Indies, two from England, one from South Africa, and one from Pakistan.
1. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
In Test format, Tendulkar played for India from 1989 to 2013 and scored 15,921 runs with 51 hundreds. No other player has scored more hundreds than Sachin till date.
2. Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Ricky Ponting made it to the list by scoring 13,378 runs with 41 hundreds. He played in the Test format for Australia from 1995 to 2012.
3. Jacques Kallis (SA)
Kallis played for South Africa for 28 years and retired from Test cricket in 2013. He scored 13,289 with 45 hundreds.
4. Rahul Dravid (India)
Rahul is another Indian player who scored more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He played from 1996 to 2012 and scored 13,288 runs in 286 innings.
5. Alastair Cook (Eng)
Cook played for England from 2006 to 2018 and scored 12,472 runs in 291 innings with 33 hundreds.
6. Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Kumar Sangakkara, who is famous for his cover drives, played from 2000 to 2015 for Sri Lanka in Test cricket and scored 12,400 runs with 38 hundreds.
7. Brian Lara (WI)
Brian Lara, who is the only batsman to score 400 in one innings in Test cricket, played from 1990 to 2006 for West Indies. He scored 11,953 runs in his Test career.
8. Shivnarine Chanderpaul(WI)
He played for 21 years for West Indies from 1994 to 2015 and scored 11,876 runs in 280 innings.
9. Mahela Jayawardene (SL)
He played for Sri Lanka from from 1997 to 2014 in Test cricket and scored 11,814 runs with 34 hundreds.
10. Allan Border (Aus)
Allan is a former Australian cricketer who played from 1978 to 1994 and scored 11,174 runs with career’s highest of 205 in an innings.
11. Steve Waugh (Aus)
Steve Waugh is another former Australian player who crossed 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He played from 1985 to 2004 and scored 10,927 runs in his Test career.
12. Joe Root (Eng)
He is the only player who is yet to retire but has scored 10,000+ runs in Test cricket during his career of 10 years. He made his Test debut in 2012 and is still playing for England. So far, he has scored 10,466 runs.
13. Sunil Gavaskar (India)
He played for India from 1971 to 1987 and has scored 10,122 runs in his Test career.
13. Younis Khan (Pak)
Younis Khan is the only Pakistani player who made it to the list. He played for Pakistan from 2000 to 2017 for 17 years in Test cricket and has scored 10,099 runs in his career. He scored 34 hundreds with personal best of 313.
Australian players have appreciated the hospitality of Pakistan during their recent visit.
Pat Cummins took to Twitter to praise Pakistanis for their hospitality. “Special, special series. Immensely satisfied for this group to win the series in the last session of 15 tough days of Test Cricket. Huge thanks to PCB and all over here in Pakistan for the brilliant hospitality,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Huge thanks to PCB and all over here in Pakistan for the brilliant hospitality.”
Special, special series. Immensely satisfied for this group to win the series in the last session of 15 tough days of Test Cricket.
Huge thanks to PCB and all over here in Pakistan for the brilliant hospitality. pic.twitter.com/vQrO2x635T
Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne also expressed his satisfaction over winning the series.
“A great, hard-fought series that went down to the last session. So happy to get the win!! Thanks to @babarazam258 and @TheRealPCB for a great series,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.
Australian batter Steve Smith has become the fastest cricketer to reach 8,000 runs in Test cricket. Smith made the record in 151 innings. He made the record in the ongoing third Test between Pakistan and Australia
Smith eclipsed Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who reached the mark in his 152nd innings.
Among other Australians to pass 8,000 Test runs, Smith soared past Matthew Hayden (164 innings), Ricky Ponting (165), Michael Clarke (172), Allan Border (184) and Steve Waugh (194).
Smith is the 33rd batsman in the world and seventh from Australia to score 8,000-plus runs.
Smith made his Test debut against Pakistan at Lords in 2010.
Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for “choosing a dead wicket” in the historic Test Match between Australia and Pakistan.
“Test match after 24 years and look at the pitch,” Fawad tweeted. He said that the Pakistani pace attack did not need such dead pitches and hoped that the PCB will “give positive cricket a chance in next matches”.
Extremely disappointed on PCB choosing a dead wicket for an historic test match,with such a furious Pak pace attack why would we need such dead pitches? Test match after 24 years and look at the pitch, hope they will give positive cricket a chance in next matches #PAKvsAUS
Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has teased former English cricketer Michael Vaughan after England’s defeat in the Ashes.
Jaffer got the opportunity today (Tuesday) to hit back at Michael Vaughan who had mocked Men in Blue in 2019.
English team was bowled out for 68 on the third day of the Melbourne Test, handing a 3-0 victory to Australia in five-match Ashes series.
The Joe Root side failed to live up to the expectations in the third Test after losing the first two matches and succumbed to Australian bowling.
Jaffer got the opportunity today to hit back at Vaughan who had mocked the Men in Blue when they were bowled out for their lowest-ever ODI total (92) in New Zealand in 2019.
“92 all out India… Can’t believe any team would get bowled out for under a 100 these days !!!” he had tweeted.
The former Indian batter took to Twitter and said: “England 68 all out @MichaelVaughan [See-no-evil emoji] #Ashes.”
In the video, Wasim Jaffer can be seen opening the Twitter app and winking towards the camera.
Meanwhile, in another tweet, Vaughan lauded the Australian team saying “well done Australia .. Far too good for England.”
England nowhere near good enough .. they will know that .. but seeing a 32 yr old on debut on his home turf with the Crowd going berserk is what makes Sport so special .. Well done Australia .. Far too good for England .. #Ashes@FoxCricket
In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Dawid Malan is back to number one among batters with Pakistan captain Babar Azam unable to hold on to the top spot after two matches of their series against the West Indies.
Australia’s batters and Pakistan’s pacers make significant gains in the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings
Shaheen headlines the bowling rankings in the latest weekly update for men, which is carried out on Wednesdays and includes the second Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan, which Pakistan won by an innings and eight runs to clinch full ICC World Test Championship points from the series.
Shaheen has continued his climb with three wickets in the match while off-spinner Sajid Khan has zoomed up 52 places to 49th after a 12-wicket haul that won him the Player of the Match award. Mohammad Rizwan (up five places to 18th) and Fawad Alam (up seven places to 20th) have moved up in the batters’ list after their useful half-centuries.
In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Dawid Malan is back to number one among batters with Pakistan captain Babar Azam unable to hold on to the top spot after two matches of their series against the West Indies. He moves to number 3 while Mohammad Rizwan has retained his fourth spot.
Pakistan’s Haider Ali has gained 86 slots to reach 98th position after scores of 68 and 31 while the rankings for bowlers see spinner Shadab Khan back in the top 10, moving up five slots to ninth position.
Shadab Khan enters the top 10 of the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men’s T20I Bowling Rankings
Fast bowler Haris Rauf is up three places to 19th while Mohammad Nawaz has gained 29 slots to reach 54th position. For the West Indies, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosen has gained 73 slots and is now 68th among bowlers.
Team Pakistan has won two out of three matches in the three-match T20I series with West Indies in Karachi. Babar has scored 0 and 7 runs in both the matches respectively. While the Men in Green are set to play their third and final match against the Windies tomorrow (Thursday) in National Stadium Karachi.
English all-round cricketer Moeen Ali has announced his retirement from Test cricket.
Discussing his decision, Moeen said: “I’m 34 now and I want to play for as long as I can and I just want to enjoy my cricket. Test cricket is amazing, when you’re having a good day it’s better than any other format by far, it’s more rewarding and you feel like you’ve really earnt it.”
“I will miss just walking out there with the lads, playing against best in the world with that feeling of nerves but also from a bowling point of view, knowing with my best ball I could get anyone out. I’ve enjoyed Test Cricket but that intensity can be too much sometimes and I feel like I’ve done enough of it and I’m happy and content with how I’ve done.”
Moeen had already informed captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood of his decision.
The 34-year-old has scored 2,914 runs in 64 Tests at an average of 28.29 with five centuries and picked up 195 wickets with his off-spin bowling at an average of 36.66.
Meanwhile, he will play both the formats other than Test and he remains a part of England’s plans for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman.
South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis on Wednesday announced that he is retiring from Test cricket.
The former South Africa captain wrote in a post on Instagram, where he also shared a statement on his decision. “My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter.”
With two T20 World Cups in the next two years, Du Plessis said he is shifting his focus to the shortest format of the game. “It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket,” he wrote.
“The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be.”
He represented South Africa in 69 Tests and scored 4,163 runs at an average of 40.02. He scored 10 centuries and registered his highest score of 199 in 2020. He had a memorable Test debut against Australia in Adelaide in 2012, when he scored 78 in the first inning and followed it up with a maiden Test century in the second.
His final Test came in Rawalpindi against Pakistan earlier this month.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) also thanked the veteran cricketer on Twitter for “the memories”.
Meanwhile, The Pakistan Super League (PSL) announced the replacement picks for the teams that will lose some players due to international commitments.
The teams made replacement picks for the players who have either become fully or partially unavailable due to international cricket commitments. Du Plessis, who was earlier part of the Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2020 play-offs, returns to the league as a partial replacement player in the Quetta Gladiators outfit in place of the West Indian Chris Gayle.
