admin
Published on: Oct 13, 2025 06:00 am IST
Babar Azam becomes the first Asian batter to surpass the 3000-run mark in the World Test Championship (WTC).
Babar Azam might be going through a lean run in international cricket, with his last century coming in 2023 against Nepal in the Asia Cup. But the batter has scripted a special feat in the World Test Championship (WTC). The feat is all the memorable for the right-hander as he is the first Asian player to do so. Not even Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were able to achieve this feat; hence, Babar will truly be thanking his stars.
Owing to a 23-run knock against South Africa in the first innings of the first Test against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Babar became the first Asian batter to surpass the 3000-run mark in the WTC. The former Pakistan captain now has 3021 runs in the premier Test championship, which got underway with the 2019 Ashes between Australia and England.
Babar is currently the eighth-highest run-scorer in the WTC history, with the list topped by England’s Joe Root with 6080 runs in 69 matches. Speaking of Babar, his 3021 runs have come in 37 matches and 67 innings with the help of 8 centuries and 18 half-centuries.
Speaking of Rohit and Virat, who announced their retirement from Tests earlier this year, scored 2716 (40 matches) and 2617 (46 matches) respectively in the WTC.
The top five run-getters in the history of WTC are Joe Rooy (6080), Steve Smith (4278), Marnus Labuschagne (4225), Ben Stokes (3616) and Travis Head (3300). The highest Indian run-scorer in the WTC is India captain Shubman Gill, with 2826 runs in 39 matches.
Babar fails to go big
The former Pakistan captain looked set for a big one against South Africa as he came out all guns blazing, hitting a few boundaries for fun. However, the batter lost his wicket in the final session on Day 1, walking back to the hut after scoring 23 runs off 48 balls with the help of four boundaries.
Babar has a lot to prove in the two-match Test series against South Africa, as the runs have been hard to come by. Speaking of the first Test, Pakistan ended Day 1 at the score of 313/5 at Stumps with Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha unbeaten on 62 and 52 respectively.
It is worth mentioning that both Rizwan and Babar weren’t a part of Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025 squad, where the Salman Agha-led side lost the final against India by five wickets.
