Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, broke a 16-year record by being the country’s top run scorer in a calendar year.
He was 161 not out at the end of the opening day of the two-Test series against New Zealand in Karachi, bringing his total for 2022 to 2,485 runs in all formats.
In doing so, the 28-year-old topped Mohammad Yousuf’s 2006 total of 2,435 points.
Babar, who led his team to 317-5 in their first innings against the Kiwis, also has the most Test runs this year, with 1,170 in nine matches.
New Zealand blew two chances to dismiss Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, with Daryl Mitchell dropping a catch at first slip with Babar on 12 and defender Devon Conway missing the stumps with the batsman on 54.
It was also Babar’s 25th international score of 50 or more in a calendar year, across Test, one-day international, and Twenty20 international cricket, matching the record set by Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara in 2014.
