Pakistan returned to Test cricket for the first time since January as they kick start their World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle against the defending champions South Africa in Lahore from Sunday, October 12.
As they look to start the new cycle on a high note, after finishing at the bottom of the table in 2023-25, Shan Masood decided to bat first at the Gaddafi Stadium and stitched a 161(284) partnership with Imam-ul-Haq for the second wicket.
While four of the top-7 in the batting order got fifties, former captain Babar Azam also got off to a steady start upon his return to international cricket; however, he only managed to score 23(48) before Simon Harmer dismissed him.
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Although Pakistan number 4 could not score big on Day 1 of the Test, he managed to script history and became the first Asian batter to go past the 3000-run mark in the World Test Championship.
In this article, TSN takes a look at the Asian batters with the most runs in the WTC, which was introduced in 2019.
Asian batters with the most runs in World Test Championship history:
In the process of reaching the landmark, he went past the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
Among the top-five highest scorers from the continent, three are Indians, including the current captain and vice-captain, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, respectively.
Notably, Babar has played the joint-least number of innings among these batters to reach his 3000 run mark.
| Batter | Matches | Innings | Runs | Avg | Highest | 50/100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babar Azam | 37 | 67 | 3021 | 47.95 | 196 | 18/8 |
| Shubman Gill | 39 | 71 | 2826 | 43.47 | 269 | 8/10 |
| Rishabh Pant | 38 | 67 | 2731 | 43.34 | 146 | 16/6 |
| Rohit Sharma | 40 | 69 | 2716 | 41.15 | 212 | 8/9 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | 35 | 66 | 2642 | 40.64 | 244 | 16/6 |
At Stumps, Day 1, the hosts finished with 313/5 with a big partnership between Mohammad Rizwan (62*) and Salman Agha (52*). So far, Senuran Muthusamy has been the pick of the Protea bowlers with 2/101.
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